16 March 2011
The Care Quality Commission has taken enforcement action to protect the safety and welfare of people who use services provided by Uplands Care Home at Maisemore in Gloucestershire.
The registered providers, Mr G J & Mrs M Rigby, have been told that they must not admit any people to Uplands Care Home until the Commission is satisfied that the home is able to provide effective, safe and appropriate care.
Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, the Care Quality Commission has a number of enforcement powers that enable it to act swiftly when services are failing people. These include issuing warning notices, restricting the services that a provider can offer or the way it is provided; or, in the most serious cases, suspending or cancelling a service. CQC can also issue financial penalty notices and cautions or prosecute the provider for failing to meet essential standards.
In an unannounced visit, inspectors found that the home was in breach of the regulation that people who use services experience effective, safe and appropriate care, treatment and support.
CQC inspectors raised their immediate concerns with the providers following the inspection in November, working closely with Gloucestershire County Council social services. The council decided to move people who they funded from the home and to assist any privately-funded people who wished to move to another service. The home is now empty.
The inspection report which has been published on the CQC website gives further details of the concerns:
- Inspectors found that practices by care staff were placing people at risk of injury and harm.
- People were not being treated in a respectful and dignified manner.
- Staff were not engaging with people so they could make decisions and have their individual needs met.
- There were major concerns about the skills, knowledge and competency of all qualified nursing staff and care workers in meeting people’s needs.
Ian Biggs, regional director of CQC in the South West said: “Care at Uplands fell far short of the standards that anyone should be able to expect in a nursing home. Vulnerable people, least able to speak out for themselves, should not be treated like this.
“Following the action we have taken in conjunction with the council, no one is currently receiving care at Uplands Care Home and we have now taken legal action to ensure that they cannot admit anybody to the home.
“If at some time in the future the providers want to open Uplands care home to new residents, they would have to apply to the Care Quality Commission to remove the condition which we have imposed on their registration.
“We would only consider lifting the condition if we were completely satisfied that they can in future provide safe care which properly meets people’s needs.”
Ends
For further information please contact the CQC press office on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.
Notes to editors
Uplands Care Home is registered with CQC under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. Using its enforcement powers, CQC has now imposed a condition that the registered provider must not admit any people to Uplands Care Home until the Commission is satisfied that the Home is fully compliant with Regulation 9 (that people who use services experience effective, safe and appropriate care, treatment and support that meets their needs and protects their rights).
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 Uplands Care Home.