The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Etherley Lodge, a care home in Bishop Auckland, County Durham that it must take action or face further action.
During an unannounced inspection in October 2014, inspectors found that the home which provides care and accommodation for up to 38 people, was failing to provide care which was safe, effective, caring, responsive or well led.
A full report of this inspection has been published on the CQC website.
Under CQC’s new programme of inspections, all adult social care services are being given a rating to help people choose care. Overall, Etherley Lodge has been rated as Inadequate.
The report identifies a number of areas in which improvements are needed:
- The home did not have suitable arrangements in place for obtaining the consent of people to the care and treatment provided for them.
- People were not protected from the risk of infection because people were not cared for in a clean, hygienic environment.
- Information provided by external healthcare professionals relating to people’s needs had not been added to individual care plans.
- Staff were not always provided with sufficient training and supervision.
Inspectors also found that checks carried out on staff as part of the provider’s recruitment procedures had not been fully completed before they started to work at the home.
Inspectors found that the provider did not have appropriate systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of service being provided and there were no mechanisms in place to gather the views of people living at the home or those of their relatives.
People living at the home were not protected from the risk of inadequate nutrition and the provider was failing to identify whether people’s dietary needs were being fully met.
Following inspection CQC were made aware that the provider had failed to formally notify them of changes to their registration.
As a result of their findings CQC is currently considering the need for further action and will report in due course on any action they do decide to take
Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North, said:
“People are entitled to services which provide safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care.
“At our recent inspection of Etherley Lodge we identified serious concerns in a number of areas and we have told the provider that they must take action to resolve these issues as a priority.”
“We are liaising closely with Durham County Council and NHS Commissioners to safeguard the wellbeing of everyone who lives at the home and we continue to monitor this provider very carefully to check that the required improvements are made.
“We will return to the home to check that the necessary improvements have been made. If not - we will take further action to make sure that people living there receive care which is safe, effective, caring and responsive to their needs”.
Ends
For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Manager Kirstin Hannaford on 0191 233 3629.
For media enquiries, call the CQC press office on 020 7448 9401 during office hours or out of hours on 07789 876508. For general enquiries, call 03000 61 61 61.
Find out more
Read our reports on Etherley Lodge.
We are liaising closely with Durham County Council and NHS Commissioners to safeguard the wellbeing of everyone who lives at the home.
Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North