Care home in Essex needs to make improvements to ensure it protects people’s safety and welfare

19 December 2013

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told a care home in Essex it must make urgent improvements to comply with the national standards of quality and safety.

This follows unannounced inspections at Upshire Residential Home on Woodredon Farm Lane, Upshire, Waltham Abbey, Essex, on 17 and 18 October, and again on 12 November, 2013.

Inspectors assessed ten of the national standards of quality and safety, at the service, which provides accommodation and care for up to 29 residents with learning disabilities, and found that none of these were being met.

As a result of the inspection, CQC has issued formal warnings to the service in relation to the national standards regarding respecting and involving people who use services, consent to care and treatment, care and welfare of people who use services, management of medicines and assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision.

CQC has told the service it must make improvements and inspectors will be returning in the near future to check on whether the necessary changes have been made.

What inspectors found:

Residents were not being adequately supported to maintain their appearance, hygiene and dignity. Most of the clothes people were wearing looked old, creased and poorly maintained. Several people had not been supported with maintaining good oral hygiene and had visibly dirty teeth.

In people’s bedrooms, the wardrobes and chest of drawers inspectors looked at were untidy and unkempt and most chairs were stained and dirty. There were several examples of poor practice when it came to people’s understanding and decision making around their own care plans. All the people CQC spoke with recognised they had signed a consent document relating to their care package, but most were unsure what it entailed.

There were discrepancies between the amount of medication in stock and the amount that was administered. There were also some unexplained gaps in medication records, meaning there was a risk that some medicines had not been given.

Where people were prescribed medicines in variable doses, the actual quantity given was not always recorded. This was of particular concern where the variable dose applied to the administration of insulin to treat diabetes.

General cleanliness and maintenance at the home was poor in some areas. For example, the oven and hob in the kitchen were very dirty. The grime was very thick despite audits stating they were clean. Several upstairs windows had broken catches and were in need of repair.

Andrea Gordon, Regional Director for CQC, said:

“The failings we found at Upshire Residential Home are a real concern.

“CQC has been working to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people receiving this service and we have told the service changes need to be made.

“We have been working closely with our partner agencies with regard to the home and we will be closely monitoring its progress on the improvements it needs to make.

“Our inspectors will return in the near future and if we find the required progress is not made we won’t hesitate to take further action where necessary.”

Ends

For further information please contact Helen Gildersleeve, regional communications officer, on 0191 233 3379 or CQC’s press office on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.

Notes to editors

A full copy of the report about the inspection carried out at Upshire Residential Home is available on CQC’s website here.