Archived: Bicester SARC

Updated 26 June 2019

Background

Services for the support and examination of people who have experienced sexual assault are commissioned by NHS England and Thames Valley Police (TVP) and provided by Care UK Health & Rehabilitation Services (referred to in this report as Care UK). Thames Valley Sexual Assault Referral Centre (TV SARC) operates from two sites, one in Bicester which covers the North of the valley, and one in Slough, covering the South. The Bicester centre which is the focus of this inspection opened in June 2018 following relocation from Bletchley and provides a 24hr service to adults and children.

The centre is located at the Bicester Police Station site and building, and facilities are managed by TVP. The centre has been adapted to meet the needs of SARC patients visiting the site although it is not purpose built. The site is signposted discreetly, and the entrance has access for people with physical disabilities with adequate parking at the centre. Accommodation includes a forensic medical room and bathroom, forensic waiting room, an interview room and a family waiting room.

The clinicians, who work across the two sites, consist of 10 forensic practitioners (FP) and a clinical director. The Bicester centre has five crisis support workers (CSW) of which one is the senior CSW, the registered manager is also a trained CSW. All staff are permanent and there is one FP vacancy which was being recruited into at the time of the inspection. The staff are supported by a full-time administrator. The FP and CSW work an on-call rota, to cover daytime, nights and weekends. The FP work across the two sites as do the CSW when providing the out of hours service.

Any professional can refer to the service. Self-referrals, for safety reasons, are seen during the daytime only. Anyone can self-refer to the SARC and choose not to have the police involved in the case, but if the person is under 18, or if the case is of particular concern for the general public, then the patient is made aware that the police will be informed.

Care UK are not commissioned to provide counselling or therapeutic support and referrals are made to a number of services commissioned to provide this service in the area.

The service is open from 8am-8pm Monday to Friday, 10am-12pm Saturday and on call arrangements cover outside of these hours.

During inspection we spoke with the registered manager, clinical director, a forensic practitioner, two crisis workers, one specially trained police officer and the Care UK regional manager. We also looked at patient records, policies and procedures and other records about how the service is managed.

Patients spoke positively about the service and the quality of care that was provided.

During the course of the inspection Care UK informed the inspectors that they will be decommissioned as the main provider from 31 March 2019. Discussions and plans to manage the transfer of the service to a new provider were in progress. The service will remain on the same site as visited during the inspection.

Updated 26 June 2019

We carried out this announced inspection on 11 and 12 December 2018 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We planned the inspection to check whether the registered provider was meeting the legal requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations. The inspection was led by a CQC inspector who was supported by a second CQC inspector and a specialist professional advisor.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?

• Is it effective?

• Is it caring?

• Is it responsive to people’s needs?

• Is it well-led?

These questions form the framework for the areas we look at during the inspection.

Our key findings were:

• Staff knew how to deal with emergencies. Appropriate medicines and life-saving equipment were available.
• The service had systems to help them manage risk.
• The staff had suitable safeguarding processes and staff knew their responsibilities for safeguarding adults and children.
• Systems were in place to support multi-agency working
• The service had thorough staff recruitment procedures.
• The clinical staff provided patients’ care and treatment in line with current guidelines.
• Staff treated patients with dignity and respect and took care to protect their privacy and personal information.
• The appointment/referral system met patients’ needs.
• The service had effective leadership and staff told us they felt well supported and listened to.
• Staff felt involved and supported and worked well as a team.
• The service asked patients for feedback about the services they provided.
• The service staff had systems to deal with complaints positively and efficiently.
• The staff had suitable information governance arrangements.
• The service was clean and facilities are well maintained.
• The staff had infection control procedures which reflected published guidance.

There were areas where the provider should make improvements. The provider should:

• Develop a workplan that sets out aspirations and service developments.
• Implement an induction programme appropriate to the team member that measures progress on competencies.
• Ensure the Crisis Support Workers have consistent access to regular reflective practice
• Consider ways to ensure children, young people and families are able to feedback on any leaflet produced for this age group.
• Assess and mitigate risks associated with upstairs windows
• Ensure Care UK have an overriding Consent Policy to lay out the organisational strategy for management of consent