1 June 2012
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told the owners of Bishops Court care home, Sefton Park Road, Liverpool that they must take immediate action to improve standards of care.
In a report published this week, CQC inspectors identify a number of concerns found at Bishops Court, which provides nursing and personal care for up to 41 people including people with dementia and learning disabilities.
Inspectors carried out a visit to the home on 23 March tocheck if improvements required following a previous visit had been made. However, on latest inspection CQC foundthat the provider, European Wellcare Homes Limited, was still failing to meet national standards of quality and safety regarding the care and welfare of people who use services.
In addition, concerns were also raised in relation to standards covering respect and involvement, staffing levels, supporting staff, and the monitoring of the quality of service provided. By law, providers of care services must ensure that they are meeting all national standards.
European Wellcare Homes Limited has been told that they must provide an action plan setting out how they will comply with the legal standards.
The report has been published on the CQC website and includes full details of inspectors concerns. These included:
Care and welfare of people who use services
Inspectors found that improvement had been made to the structure and organisation of individual care plans since their previous visit, and care plans and risk assessments were being reviewed on a regular basis. However, some care plans were inaccurate, incomplete and failed to provide sufficient guidance to staff as to how treatment and support should be provided. Inspectors found evidence that the advice of external health care professionals was not always followed and, staff were failing to communicate effectively with each other regarding the care needs of people living in the home.
Supporting staff
Although staff training and supervision were taking place to assess performance and identify training needs, there were inconsistencies in the level of training undertaken by different members of staff. Not all of the registered nurses working at the home had received mandatory training in areas such as medication handling and administration, safeguarding or infection control measures. None of the staff employed by the provider had received training in supporting people with a learning disability who also have a diagnosis of dementia.
Assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision
Systems in place to monitor the quality of care and service being provided were not sufficiently developed and did not include routine analysis of complaints or incidents as a way of identifying trends and risks of non-compliance. The views of people living at the home and their relatives were not sought on a regular basis.
Ann Ford, CQC Head of Compliance for the North region, said:
“The failings at Bishops Court are a concern and improvements need to be made.
“CQC has been working closely with the local authority to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people receiving this service and we have told the provider where they need to improve.
“Where improvements are not made we have a range of enforcement powers that can be used, including prosecution, closure or restriction of services.”
Any regulatory decision that CQC takes is open to challenge by a registered person through a variety of internal and external appeal processes.
Ends
For further information please contact the CQC Regional Communications Team, David Fryer 07901 514 220 or Kirstin Hannaford 0191 233 3629.
The CQC press office can be contacted on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.
Notes to editors
Find out more
Read the reports from our checks on standards at Bishop's Court.