Teamwork helps turnaround Calderdale care home that was previously rated inadequate

Positive feedback from residents and families about Bridge House Care Home in Brighouse, such as “safe”, “caring”, “comfortable”, “friendly” and “helpful”, was highlighted in a report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after it rated the home as ‘Good’ in January 2022.

This rating – the second highest that the CQC can give – means the service is performing well and meeting expectations, and was awarded just five months after the care home had been rated ‘Inadequate’ in August 2021.

Councillor Josh Fenton-Glynn, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Services and Wellbeing, said: “Moving up by two CQC ratings from Inadequate to Good in only five months is a remarkable achievement, especially during the ongoing challenges of the pandemic.

“At Calderdale we work closely with our health and care partners to provide constructive support and we want to learn from every individual CQC report to continually improve our services with all our providers.

“We know that COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on care homes, their staff, residents and families. Providing the best possible care and support has remained the priority throughout.

“The team of staff at Bridge House, Fisher Care Group, the Council and the CCG worked exceptionally hard together to develop a comprehensive action plan addressing the CQC’s concerns. This has already improved the effectiveness and consistency of the service, and partnership support will continue for ongoing improvements as required.

“Our Vision2024 for Calderdale is to be a place where everyone can achieve their potential. This includes our ‘Age Friendly Calderdale’ commitment to enable people to have a healthy and good-quality later life. We are confident that Bridge House Care Home is a place where people can do this.”

Calderdale Council, NHS Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the care home provider, Fisher Care Group, worked together to develop an extensive action plan to bring about immediate improvements and ensure that all residents were safely cared for.

Work included daily visits to the home by the Council and the CCG for several weeks; weekly quality assurance meetings; and the appointment of additional senior managers, nursing staff and a dedicated clinical lead at the care home. This team worked effectively in partnership with the Council and the CCG and achieved significant improvements to the service over a very short time period.

Mike Higginson, Operations Manager at Fisher Care Group, said: “The direct support was invaluable and reassuring, we were in this together for the residents. As the provider we felt supported and not policed, we were encouraged and not chastised, we shared ideas and experiences, we worked together.

“The result of this massive team effort was the home recovered from the potential threat of closure, families and residents were reassured, and the staff and management developed key relationships with the team from Calderdale to ensure the residents got the quality of care we would all expect them to receive.”

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