The Care Quality Commission has formally warned Sue Ryder stating that they must make urgent improvements at Sue Ryder – Birchley Hall in Billinge, Lancashire.
The warning follows an unannounced visit by inspectors to the care home on 17 September 2014 which was carried out to follow up on improvements required at a previous inspection. Inspectors found that the residential home was failing to provide care which was safe, effective, responsive or well led; and all four of the national standards reviewed by the inspection team were not being met.
A full report detailing the findings from the inspection has been published on the CQC website this week.
Inspectors identified a number of concerns, for example:
The care home did not have suitable arrangements in place for obtaining the consent of people to the care and treatment provided for them.
People living at the home had not been involved in making decisions about their care and treatment options, and information about people’s personal preferences was not always included in their care plans.
People’s privacy and dignity were not always respected and people who were living with a dementia were not supported to make independent choices about how they wished to spend their day or what food they would like to eat.
Care plans were not being regularly updated to reflect people’s changing needs. This meant that staff could not accurately care for residents whose requirements had developed.
The service did not have an appropriate or effective system in place to monitor or access the quality of service that people receive. There was no consistent managerial presence at the service.
Debbie Westhead, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North said:
“We found the care provided at Sue Ryder Birchley Hall fell a long way short of what we expect services to provide. We have told the home that they must take action to address the issues we identified.
"While staff demonstrated a kind attitude and many people living at the home and their relatives told us they were happy with the care they received, we saw that people’s care was not being planned effectively and actions were not being taken to deliver care that met people’s assessed needs.
"The residents receiving care at Sue Ryder – Birchley Hall 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 standards at the home to deteriorate in this way.
"We are monitoring Sue Ryder – Birchley Hall 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.”
Ends
For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Officer Mark Humphreys on 0191 233 3519. Alternatively, the CQC press office can be contacted on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07789 876508.
Find out more
Read reports from our checks on the standards at Sue Ryder - Birchley Hall.