CQC acts to protect the safety and welfare of people at a Cheshire Nursing Home

06 November 2013

CQC acts to protect the safety and welfare of people at a Cheshire Nursing Home

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is taking action to protect the safety and welfare of people living in a nursing home in Congleton, Cheshire.

In a report which is published today, CQC inspectors identify a series of concerns at Chapel Brook House Nursing and Residential Care Home. CQC is liaising closely with Cheshire East Council to ensure people are not at risk of harm.

When they visited the home in September 2013 inspectors found that the provider, Stylepeople Limited, was failing to meet all nine of the national standards reviewed. By law, providers of care services must ensure that they are meeting all standards.

Visiting inspectors reviewed a sample of care and treatment records, observed how care was being delivered, and spoke with people living in the home and their relatives as well as members of staff. As a result they found that improvements were required in a number of areas.

• Several areas of the home were visibly dirty and the provider had failed to ensure all parts of the premises were maintained in good physical repair and condition.
• Throughout the visit inspectors saw that a fire door was left unsecured
• Individual care records were not up to date and inspectors were concerned that care was not being delivered in accordance with people's needs.
• Inspectors found evidence of incidents having taken place which had not been notified to CQC, as required by law.
• In cases where people lacked the capacity to consent, inspectors found that the provider had not acted in accordance with legal requirements.
• Up to date training was not being provided and staff were not sufficiently supported to carry out their roles.
• The home did not effectively monitor the quality of service being provided and there was a lack of systems in place to manage risks or improve the service by learning from incidents or errors.

Chapel Brook House has stopped new admissions and CQC is closely monitoring the home in conjunction with the local authority to ensure that the 25 people living there are safe and protected. The Commission has referred their findings to Environmental Health and Health and Safety Executive and has told the provider where improvements must be made.

CQC has a range of legal powers it can use where standards are not being met and will report in due course on any further regulatory action they decide to take.

Malcolm Bower-Brown, CQC’s Regional Director for the North said:

“The failings at Chapel Brook House are unacceptable. We have told the provider very clearly where improvements must be made and we are considering the need for any further regulatory action on our part.

“We are currently liaising closely with Cheshire East Council, local commissioners and the Health and Safety Executive to ensure the safety of all residents and we continue to monitor the situation carefully.

“We will not hesitate to take further regulatory action where required to ensure the people using the service receive the service they are entitled to expect."

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

Read the full report on Chapel Brook House Nursing & Residential Care Home profile page.