A nursing care home based in Boscombe, Bournemouth has been rated as Inadequate overall by the Care Quality Commission.
Merstone Hall was rated as Inadequate for being safe, effective caring, responsive and well-led, following an unannounced inspection in February 2018 with a return inspection visit on 12 March. Merstone Hall was a nursing care home which was providing care to 35 older people some of whom were living with dementia and mental health conditions.
At a previous inspection in May 2016, CQC rated the service as Good.
At this inspection in February 2018 CQC identified serious failings and shortfalls in the care, treatment and safety of people living at the home. These failing and shortfalls placed people at risk of harm. Multiple individual and whole service safeguarding alerts were raised with the local authority, who are responsible for investigating any allegations of abuse. These concerns were also shared with the provider, registered manager and other statutory agencies.
People were not receiving the care and support they needed and this placed them at risk of harm or neglect. Their health and care needs were not always met because the care and support they needed was not delivered. People did not receive the fluids they needed to keep them hydrated, people were not repositioned to minimise the risk of pressure sores nor were they supported to use the toilet or have their continence wear changed. These risks to people were not managed effectively or mitigated and this placed people at risk of harm and neglect
People had poor mealtime experiences and some people were placed at risk by not receiving specialist modified diets.
Staff did not know enough about people as individuals to be able to provide personalised care. Some staff did not treat people with dignity and respect and staff did not always respect people's privacy. Inspectors found not all of the staff were caring in their approach to people. Some staff did not smile at people or reassure them when they were upset or worried.
You can read the report in full on our website.
Debbie Ivanova, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said:
“Our inspectors identified 12 breaches of the regulations at Merstone Hall and rated this service as 'Inadequate' overall and placed it into special measures.
“During the inspection action was taken by the local authority and clinical commissioning group (CCG), health and social care professionals statutory agencies to reduce the immediate risks to people. This included checks on people's welfare by health and social care professionals. Following the fourth day of the inspection health and social care professionals were visiting the service daily to monitor people's care, treatment, welfare and safety until the home’s closure on 28 March.
Our inspectors returned to Merstone Hall on the 12 March to see what improvements had been made following the first three days of inspection. Despite the support, the provider and registered manager did not take the action required in response to feedback provided by CQC and statutory agencies to improve the care and treatment provided to people.
“Our inspectors met with the provider and registered manager of the service on 13 March to express our serious concerns and explain what enforcement action we were considering. The provider subsequently submitted an application to cancel the location of the service and the home closed on the 28 March.
“While I am concerned that this will have been a difficult time for everyone involved, our first priority is always the welfare of the people who are living at The service. We continued to monitor Merstone Hall and worked with the statutory agencies to make sure that people living there were moved safely into new services which meet their needs. “
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Our inspectors identified 12 breaches of the regulations at Merstone Hall and rated this service as 'Inadequate' overall
Debbie Ivanova, Deputy Chief Inspector, Adult Social Care