24 May 2011
Blakesley House Nursing Home is not meeting essential standards of quality and safety
Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors who visited Blakesley House Nursing Home in Ealing found that it was failing to meet eight essential standards of quality and safety.
The Care Quality Commission has told Blakesley House Nursing Home that it must take swift action to improve services at the home.
Blakesley House Nursing Home is registered to accommodate up to 22 older people who require nursing care.
CQC reviewed all the information it holds about this provider and carried out two visits in March 2011. It observed how people were being cared for, talked to people who use services, talked to staff, checked the provider’s records, and looked at records of service users.
CQC found that Blakesley House was not meeting eight essential standards and had major concerns in six areas:
Respecting and involving people
People living at the service did not experience care that identified and respected their dignity, privacy and independence. People with limited cognition did not receive personalised care and they were not treated with consideration and respect.
Consent to care and treatment
Consent was not always obtained appropriately and people’s human rights were not being respected or taken account of unless people living at the service were able to speak for themselves.
Care and welfare
Residents did not receive care, treatment and support to meet their individual needs, choices and preferences.
Safeguarding people
The provider did not have a clear understanding about safeguarding procedures and the referral process and when other authorities need to be contacted when an allegation of abuse has been made or abuse is suspected.
Assessing and monitoring the quality of service
The monitoring processes in place were not robust. They did not identify shortfalls and there was no apparent mechanism for implementing and sustaining improvements.
Records
Care plan information was not always accurate, so people were at risk of not receiving personalised care, treatment and support. Records were not always stored securely, which could lead to a breach of confidentiality.
CQC Regional Director for London, Colin Hough, said: “The care at Blakesley House has fallen short of the standards people have a right to expect.
“The law says these are the standards that everyone should be able to expect when they receive care. Providers have a duty to ensure they are compliant – or face the consequences. We have given Blakesley House seven days in to send us a report, setting out the action they will take to improve.”
By law, providers of care services have a legal responsibility to make sure they are meeting the essential standards of quality and safety. We will continue to monitor progress and we will check to make sure that the improvements have been made.
Ends
For further information please contact the CQC press office on 0207 448 9239 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.
Notes to editors
About the CQC: Snippet for press releases
About the Care Quality Commission
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.
We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.
We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.
Read the report
Read the reports from our checks on standards at Blakesley House Nursing Home.