The Care Quality Commission has issued three formal warnings to Gainford Care Homes Limited stating that that they must make immediate improvements at Lindisfarne Seaham in County Durham.
The warnings follow an unannounced visit by inspectors to the home in August and early September 2014, which was carried out in response to information of concern.
Visiting inspectors found that the nursing home was failing to provide care which was safe, effective, caring, responsive or well led; and all four of the national standards reviewed by the inspection team were not being met.
Following the inspection, CQC issued three warning notices requiring Gainford Care Homes Limited to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents.
A full report detailing the findings from the inspection has been published on the CQC website this week.
Concerns included:
- Inspectors raised concern that some staff did not fully understand or respect the diverse needs of the people living at the home.
- Some staff were inconsistent when following guidelines to help support people or manage those residents who displayed challenging behavior.
- Inspectors found that care plans were incomplete and did not always contain sufficient guidance for staff to deliver care and support that fully met resident’s individual needs.
- The home was not sufficiently adapted to support residents to access all parts of the premises and there was no signage to direct people to the communal spaces or bedrooms.
- People living at the home were exposed to care in an unclean and unhygienic setting. Infection and contamination risks were discovered throughout the home including areas where food was prepared.
- Equipment and furnishings were found to be in a poor state of repair. In some cases call bells were out of reach or tied up meaning those in need of assistance could not call for help.
- There were not enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs.
Debbie Westhead, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North said:
“We found that the care provided at Lindisfarne Seaham fell a long way short of what we expect services to provide. We have told the provider that they must take action to resolve the issues we identified.
"The lack of individualised care, maintenance issues and poor standards of hygiene must be addressed.
"The residents receiving care from Lindisfarne Seaham are entitled to receive services which are safe, effective, compassionate, well led, and responsive to their needs and it is unacceptable, that the provider has allowed the service at the home to deteriorate in this way
"We have shared our findings with the Local Authority Safeguarding Team, and we have told Gainford Care Homes Limited very clearly where they must take action to improve.
"We are monitoring Lindisfarne Seaham very closely in liaison with the local authority to ensure that people receiving care are not at risk of immediate harm, and we will return in due course to check that improvements have been made. If we find that this is not the case we will consider using our legal powers further to protect the people who live here.”
Ends
For further information please contact CQC Regional Communications Officer Mark Humphreys on 0191 233 3519. Alternatively, the CQC press office can be contacted on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.
Find out more
Read our reports on Lindisfarne Seaham.