Stonedale Lodge Care Home

Updated 20 June 2024

Date of Assessment: 5, 6 and 12 November 2024. Stonedale Lodge is a care service with nursing care and can accommodate up to 180 people. At the time of the assessment site visits there were 103 people living at the home. People in care services receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises, and the care provided, and both were looked at during this assessment. Stonedale Lodge did not have a registered manager in post. This provider was required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of the regulated activities. This was an unannounced, responsive assessment, prompted by emerging risk. During the assessment, we assessed 20 quality statements and identified 4 breaches of the legal regulations in relation to person centered care, safe care and treatment, safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment and good governance. People were not consistently protected from abuse and improper treatment. Risks to people's health and safety was not always assessed or mitigated. People did not always receive their medicines safely. People were not always treated with kindness, respect and dignity. Governance systems and audits were not effective in identifying or addressing areas for improvement. 'This service remains in special measures. The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we use our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.'

Updated 20 June 2024

A family member raised concerns about the security of their relatives’ bedroom and personal belongings, they told us, “[Relatives] things keep going missing.” Family members told us they did not feel there were enough staff to keep their relative safe. A family member told us, “Staff often look stressed and at times does not seem to be enough around.” People described staff as kind and caring, their comments included, “The staff are caring” and “The staff are nice and do their best.” A family member told us they were not always made to feel welcome when visiting their relative, they said, “Sometimes offered a cup of tea, it depends which staff are on shift.” People and family members told us there was a lack of activities. One person told us, “I just sit in a chair watching television” and a family member told us, “There is no entertainment.” People and family members were unsure about the management arrangements at the service and lacked confidence in the leadership. Their comments included, “I don’t know who the manager is,” “We don’t know who the manager is now. We’re not happy with how the management have handled some of the issues, they need better leadership” and “Not always sure who is in charge of the unit on any given day.”