Ermington House

Updated 27 March 2024

Ermington House provides accommodation to a maximum of 34 people who require nursing or support with personal care. This responsive assessment was prompted due to concerns raised about care at the service. At the time of this assessment there were 30 people living at the service. The assessment was completed between 1 and 16 May 2024. Site visits to gather peoples’ experiences and observe care practices were carried out on 1 and 8 May 2024. We assessed a number of quality statements from the safe, caring and well-led key questions and found areas of concern. The scores from these areas have been combined with scores based on the key question ratings from the last inspection. The service had improved how they managed and monitored risks in some areas of care, but staff were not managing risks associated with the environment or infection prevention and control. The provider was not ensuring medicines were managed safely or that people were being treated with kindness and respect. The providers systems had not identified the concerns we found. We found breaches of 3 regulations in safe care and treatment, treating people with dignity and respect and good governance.

Updated 27 March 2024

Most people we spoke with told us they felt safe living at Ermington House, comments included, “I feel safe, I’ve no concerns” and “I’m cared for, and I feel quite safe. This is home to me now.” However, whilst most people felt safe our assessment found elements of the environment people were living in was not always safe and free from infection control risks. Systems and processes in place to ensure people received their medicines appropriately were not robust and did not provide assurances that people always received their medicines as prescribed for them. Whilst we did see some kind and caring interactions between staff and people living at the service, we also saw people were not always cared for in a dignified way and people told us they did not always feel they were treated with kindness, dignity and respect. Some people told us staff were ‘bossy’, were rude to them and often spoke to each other in their own language. Staff did not always communicate with people, ask their permission before giving care or explain what they were doing. Staff put clothes protectors on people at lunch time and moved people in a hoist without gaining their permission or explaining what they were doing. Whilst people and relatives told us staff were always busy and they were always rushing about, we observed there were enough staff to ensure people’s physical care needs were being met. People were cared for by staff that had been recruited safely. Improvements had been made in relation to risks associated with people’s care needs. People who were assessed as at risk from skin damage, losing weight and falling were being monitored and appropriate action had been taken to reduce the risk of harm. Equipment was in place to support safe handling and moving and protect people from skin damage.