"A framework through which organisations are accountable for continually improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care by creating an environment in which excellence in clinical care will flourish."
These principles of clinical governance underpin and direct The Cambian Group’s clinical, operational and corporate objectives.
•Recognizably high standards of care
•Transparent responsibility and accountability for those standards
•A constant dynamic of improvement
We are committed to delivering the highest quality clinical and educational services to all the people in our care in our hospitals, schools and community houses.
Service-user and family involvement
Patient and student involvement and the inclusion of families and carers in decision-making are fundamental to our approach.
Our schools and hospitals across the UK enable us to cater for clients close to their home communities facilitating ongoing contact with families and local services.
Questionnaires to parents and carers and clients; student feedback through School Councils and patients’ contributions at daily community meetings; family and carer attendance at reviews – all these serve to provide us with hard evidence to inform our practice.
We actively engage in initiatives such as the Star Wards programme, which allow us to benchmark best practice and enhance our clients’ daily experiences and treatment outcomes.
Audit and compliance
All our facilities operate within statutory requirements in the healthcare and educational arena. Regular external audit of our performance across a range of measures is undertaken.
We work in partnership with the Care Quality Commission, OFSTED, PCTs, LAs, the NHS, the DCSF and Environmental Health to ensure we meet and often exceed the standards.
Points raised in inspections are incorporated into operation and strategic functions to support our ongoing commitment to develop best practice.
To view inspection reports on our facilities by CQC, HIW and Ofsted please see links below:
•CQC reports
•HIW reports
•Ofsted reports
Other Relevant Websites:
Quality Care Commission (CQC) http://www.cqc.org.uk/
Health Inspectorate Wales (HIW) http://www.hiw.org.uk/
Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/
Clinical Effectiveness
Regular benchmarking against guidance and legislation is undertaken.
Internationally-recognised measurable outcomes such as the Global Assessment of Functioning and Therapeutic Crisis Intervention programme are incorporated into our unique and highly regarded Active Care™ and Active Learning™ multi-disciplinary models of psychiatric rehabilitation and specialist education.
Our clinical, educational and operational structures are fully integrated at all levels, allowing us to direct the maximum resource towards patient care and student development.
Risk Assessment and Management
Clinical and organisational risk management is an essential ongoing element of all of our services. We ensure all our facilities are fit for purpose to maximise the safety of the people in our care. All staff are CRB checked for their suitability to work with our vulnerable clients.
Our policies give clear directives on such matters as Child Protection and use of illegal substances. Any causes for concern are carefully logged and reported so that appropriate action may be taken.
Our multi-disciplinary and multi-agency collaborative approach engenders consistency. Active Care ™ and Active Learning™ incorporate evidence-based measures in this area, allowing us to monitor and respond appropriately.
Off-site activities are subject to extensive forward planning and risk assessment.
Corporate Governance
Cambian is committed to robust corporate governance and has developed a wide ranging system to keep corporate governance under regular review. This is undertaken in conjunction with external specialist healthcare lawyers to ensure both an independent review and a means of benchmarking Cambian's performance against industry trends.
Corporate governance issues are also regularly reviewed with the board of directors which underlines the importance with which this is viewed.
Our Employees
All Cambian hospitals and schools operate on a multi-professional team model with high staff/patient and student ratios.
We have a dedicated HR team and processes, and conduct regular staff surveys. We acknowledge the challenges presented by working in our particular field and ensure that every possible support is given, including the provision of an Employee Assistance Programme.
In 2009 we were recognised as being one of the Top 100 healthcare employers in the UK and, on the education side, have been endorsed by Investors In People since 1996.
Training and development
We have a dedicated training and development team which provides a wide range of mandatory, professional and vocational learning opportunities to our staff. The training of students of all disciplines is a major element of our services.
We sponsor staff members who wish to further their careers by pursuing academic and vocational qualifications at universities or FE colleges.
The provision of a generous training budget is ensured to continually improve the quality of care to our patients through ongoing programme of learning and development for all employees.
In addition to our students gaining a wide range of qualifications, a number of our patients also access vocational and Higher Education courses whilst in our care.
DCSF & Ofsted
All Cambian schools are DCSF registered and inspected by Ofsted. Our post-16 provisions are members of the National Association of Specialist Colleges (NATSPEC).
Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. It regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages.
The new Ofsted brings together the wide experience of four inspectorates to make a greater difference for every child, and for all young people and adult learners, in England.
Cambian schools have successfully been rated as outstanding by Ofsted. To read the inspection reports on our schools please click on the links below;
Grateley House School
The Wing Centre
Southlands School
The Forum School
Purbeck View School
Hill House School
ISO & Investors in People
Cambian is awarded ISO certification, which is an internationally recognized accredited quality assurance programme and a respected mark of quality across the world. This demonstrates that our Group has robust quality assurance tools that set out a clear quality and safety framework of standards which need to be in place to ensure the capacity to provide high quality and safe services. It highlights our commitment to providing quality services to our service users, staff and visitors alike.
Our Specialist Education division is also awarded with Investors in People, which is a standard that helps organisations transform their business performance. The Investors in People Standard is a business improvement tool designed to help employers improve performance by linking people development and skills acquisition to the specific aims and objectives of their businesses, to assess and improve the performance of their employees. Investors in People is all about business improvement. The division was successfully re assessed in 2008 and continues to meet the requirements of the Investors in People Standard.
Research & Development
There are various bodies which recognise Cambian as a training environment for undergraduates. For medical students, the Group has student placement agreements with Liverpool University. The Group also has preliminary agreements with Cardiff University and Nottingham University on student placements. There are a number of other universities, which send us nurse students, OT students and psychology trainees. For details of these please call us on 0800 138 1184.
The Cambian Group also has 'approved practice setting' status for the majority of its units from the General Medical Council (GMC). This means that the Group can take doctors with full registration from the GMC and a license to practice, who are new to the register or who have come back to the register after prolonged absence. An approved practice setting is an organisation that the GMC recognises as having systems for the effective management of doctors, systems for identifying and acting upon concerns about doctors' fitness to practise, systems to support the provision of relevant training or continuing professional development, and systems for providing regulatory assurance.