CQC requires improvement at four care homes in North East Lincolnshire

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told the owners of four care homes in North East Lincolnshire that they must take immediate action to improve standards of care.  

Inspectors from the CQC found that Emerald House in Brigg, Amber House in Humberston and Jade House and Topaz House, both in Cleethorpes, were failing to meet the required national standards of quality and safety.

The four reports which are published on the CQC website today detail findings from inspections which took place in June 2014.

The inspections at Topaz House and Amber House were carried out to follow up on improvements required at previous CQC visits, and the inspections of Jade House and Emerald House took place as part of CQC’s scheduled inspection programme for 2014/15.

When they visited the homes run by Carmand Ltd, CQC found a range of issues including low staffing levels, poor care planning, failure to fully safeguard residents from the risk of harm, and ineffective processes for monitoring the quality of service being provided.

CQC have told Carmand Ltd that they must provide a report setting out the action they will take to address the shortfalls CQC has identified. By law, providers of care services must ensure that they are meeting all national standards.  

At Emerald House, inspectors found the provider was failing to meet all eight standards reviewed. People’s needs were not being fully assessed and care and treatment was not being consistently planned and delivered in line with people’s individual care plans. In addition, serious concerns were raised about the lack of guidance and training for staff to ensure they were able to support people appropriately, particularly those residents with challenging behaviour.

Inspectors also found shortfalls with eight standards at Topaz House. Safeguarding procedures were in place, but staff were unsure of what their responsibilities were in relation to safeguarding residents from the risk of harm. Inspectors found occasions where the provider had not acted in accordance with legal requirements when providing care for people that lacked the capacity to provide their consent to treatment.

At Jade House the provider was found to be failing in eight out of the nine areas assessed. Inspectors raised concerns that the planning and delivery of care did not always meet people’s needs. Where residents had been identified as requiring psychological input on a weekly basis, this support was not being provided. During their inspection CQC found evidence of safeguarding incidents having occurred at the home that had not been notified to CQC as required by law.

At Amber House shortfalls were identified in nine out of 10 standards. Inspectors found that there were gaps in staff training and some staff had not received training to meet the specialist needs of people living at the home. Staff told inspectors they felt isolated and at times had been left to manage situations they did not feel confident about. Risks to residents were not always appropriately assessed or responded to and inspectors found that the provider had not taken the required steps when dealing with allegations of abuse.

Staff shortages were apparent at all four homes as was a distinct lack of clear leadership. The provider was failing to effectively monitor the quality of service being provided at each location, and incidents and errors were not being analysed to identify trends and put actions in place to prevent reoccurrence

As a result of these findings CQC is currently considering the need for further regulatory action against Carmand Ltd and will report in due course on any action they do decide to take.

Debbie Westhead, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North said:

“The failing’s at all four homes are a real concern and we’re considering the need for further action against Carmand Ltd – although we cannot discuss the nature of that action any further at this stage for legal reasons.

“We’ve shared our concerns with the Local Authority Commissioning and Safeguarding teams, and have told Carmand Ltd very clearly where improvements must be made.

“Residents at all four homes are entitled to be receive care services which are safe, effective, caring, well run, and responsive to their needs.

“We’ll continue to monitor all four homes very closely in liaison with the local authority to ensure that residents are not at risk of immediate harm, and will report further on the action we are taking in due course.”

Any regulatory decision that CQC takes is open to challenge by a registered person through a variety of internal and external appeal processes.

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For further information please contact CQC Regional Communications Officer Kirstin Hannaford on 0191 233 3629.

The CQC press office can be contacted on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07917 232 143