The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Highfield House, that they must make improvements to protect the safety and welfare of people living there.
CQC carried out its most recent inspection in July and August 2016. Inspectors found that the care being provided by, the provider, Mrs Susan Burns and Mrs Marion Burns, was failing to provide care which was safe, effective, caring, responsive or well led. The home has been rated inadequate overall and continues to be in special measures
Inspectors found significant improvements had not been made to meet the requirements and Highfield House Residential Home was inadequate in four of the five areas CQC inspected. The home was not well run, operational procedures were disorganised and oversight by the registered providers was ineffective.
Some of the findings from the latest inspection included:
There were gaps in significant parts of some people's care planning records which meant that staff did not have plans in place which they could use to guide their practice and take appropriate action.
Medication administration procedures and systems were not robust and did not protect people living at the home from risk associated with poor medicines management. Medicines that have a sedative effect were found to be used without guidance or sufficient agreed practice to safeguard and protect people living at the home.
In addition, none of the staff or the registered manager had been trained in medicines management to update them in line with current NICE guidance.
Arrangements to ensure control of infections at the home were not robust. Service users and staff at the home were not protected from the risk of water borne infections such as Legionella and actions to detect, prevent and control the spread of infections had not been completed. This showed that people living at the home were not protected from risks from their environment and arrangements to reduce these risks had not been taken.
Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North, said:
The care provided at Highfield House was of a very poor standard. To be rated inadequate in four categories and requires improvement in the fifth, represents very poor care and is simply not good enough.
We found the care provided at Highfield House home fell short of the standards we expect services to provide. I am concerned that the providers have not acted in a timely fashion to achieve compliance, meet service users' needs and adequately protect them from receiving poor care.
People are entitled to services that deliver consistently good care and we have told the provider, that they must take action as a priority. Mrs Susan Burns and Mrs Marion Burns need to act quickly and effectively to turn around this service. With an overall rating of 'Inadequate' the service will remain in 'Special measures'.
We have been working with Durham County Council and local Clinical Commissioning Group to ensure that people living at the home are not at undue risk. We will continue to monitor this care home. CQC will consider the appropriate regulatory response to resolve the problems found.
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For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Manager David Fryer 07901 514220 or Kerri James on 07464 92 9966
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