17 February 2012
The Care Quality Commission has taking action to protect the safety and welfare of people living in a care home in Merseyside.
In a report which is published today, CQC inspectors identify a series of concerns found at Kingsley House care home in Wallasey, Merseyside.
Inspectors found that the provider, Mr David Christopher Russell, was failing to meet seven national standards of quality and safety, covering care and welfare, supporting staff, medicines management, assessing the quality of service provision, safety and suitability of premises, safeguarding arrangements, and respecting an individual’s rights. By law, providers of care services must ensure they are meeting all standards.
Kingsley House provides care and accommodation for up to 16 adults with mental health needs. The report follows unannounced inspections of the home in December 2011 and January 2012.
Among CQC’s concerns were:
Safety and suitability of premises
Several carpeted areas in the home were stained excessively and there was a strong odour throughout the property. Inspectors saw that some items of furniture were broken and in need of replacement, and poor standards of hygiene and cleanliness indicated a risk to residents.
Care and welfare of people
Inspectors were concerned that some care plan records for people living in the home were incomplete or inaccurate, and this could result in people not receiving the appropriate care or support to meet their individual needs.
Management of medicines
Inspectors found that the administration of medicines was poorly managed. Medication was dispensed by staff in an office located near the main entrance to the home, offering residents little privacy. Medication administration records were incomplete and only updated by staff retrospectively, much later than the point at which medication had been given out. It was not always clear that people were receiving their medicines as prescribed, and no explanation was noted as to why a medication appeared not to have been given or had been refused.
Support given to staff
There was no formal process in place to supervise staff on a regular basis and staff training records supplied to inspectors were found to be out of date. Without appropriate training and supervision staff may not have the knowledge or skills to provide adequate care and support to residents.
Monitoring of service provision
Inspectors found no evidence of any structured review or internal monitoring system in place to assess the quality of service being provided.
In addition to the above, lower levels of concern were also identified in relation to safeguarding arrangements and respect given to individuals using the service.
Debbie Westhead, Regional Director of CQC in the North West region, said:
“The failings at Kingsley House are a real concern and improvements need to be made.
“The provider needs to ensure that robust systems are put in place to check the quality of service provision. In addition, staff training should be made available as a priority, so that staff have the right knowledge and skills to ensure that people are receiving the speciific support they require.”
“We have told the provider to submit an action plan showing how he will comply with standards. We will continue to monitor Kinsgley House and will return to check that improvements have been made. If we find that the provider has not made sufficient progress we will consider further action.”
Ends
For further information please contact the CQC Regional Communications Team, David Fryer 07901 514 220 or Kirstin Hannaford 0191 233 3629.
The CQC press office can be contacted on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.
Notes to editors
Read the reports
Read the reports from our checks on standards at Kingsley House.