CQC tells Falmouth nursing home to improve services or face enforcement action

13 May 2011

The owners of a nursing home at Falmouth in Cornwall have been told they must take immediate action to improve standards of care – or face enforcement action.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission found that King Charles Court in Falmouth was failing to meet four of the essential standards of quality and safety.

The report, which has been published on the CQC website, identifies concerns with levels of staffing, care and welfare of residents, nutrition and the state of the premises.

CQC has told the provider, King Charles Court Ltd, to produce plans to show how it intends to achieve compliance. By law, providers of care services have a legal responsibility to make sure they are meeting the essential standards of quality and safety.

The CQC report follows a previous visit to the nursing home, in November 2010, in response to people's concerns. King Charles Court was told to provide plans showing how they it achieve compliance with all the standards./p>

Inspectors visited the home again in February to follow up that report. They found that while there has been improvement in some areas, the care provided was still falling short of standards people should be able to expect. Areas of concern include:

• Staffing: There are not enough suitably qualified people employed to meet the needs of people at the home. Inspectors said that people's care needs were not being fully met, with late delivery of personal care in the mornings, health care needs not met, call bells not answered and limited assistance with fluids and meals.
• Care and welfare of people who use services: Residents did not always receive the care that they need. People who use the service were at risk due to inconsistencies in care planning, and their healthcare needs were not consistently met and addressed.
• Meeting nutritional needs: People who use the service who cannot help themselves to their food and fluids, did not receive adequate nutrition or fluid. Inspectors observed that people were not being given assistance to eat or drink.
• Safety and suitability of premises: While residents were generally safe, there were risks to their wellbeing.

Bernadette Hanney, acting Regional Director of CQC in the South West, said: "It is clear that the standard of care provided by King Charles Court has been falling far short of standards people should be able to expect.

"Frail, older people often need help to eat or drink - but we found they were simply left to cope. Even while our inspectors were there, we saw one person sat in their armchair in a hunched position with their eyes closed, with their meal in front of them for fifteen minutes without being offered assistance to eat any food.

“We need to ensure that people living at the home are not at any immediate risk of harm, which is why we have been working closely with Cornwall Social services and NHS Cornwall under safeguarding procedures to ensure the safety of all residents. If there was evidence that people were at risk, we would take further action.

“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.

“Our inspectors will return to King Charles Court in the near future and if we find that the home is not making progress we won’t hesitate to use our legal powers on behalf of the people who live there.

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