5 August 2011
The Greenways Rest Home in Bamber Bridge, Preston, is not meeting nine essential standards.
A Care Quality Commission inspection (CQC) on the 5 May 2011 found that the home, operated by Ark Care Services Ltd was not meeting nine of the 16 essential safety requirements.
Providers of care services have a legal responsibility to make sure they are meeting all the essential standards of quality and safety.
The CQC report, which is published today on our website, highlights the regulator’s concerns with nine areas the inspector looked at.
People should get safe and appropriate care that meets their needs and supports their rights
People who use the service do not always receive appropriate care, treatment and support to meet their needs. Care plans lack up to date information to allow staff to meet people’s needs in an effective and individualised way. A lack of robust, person centred risk assessments means that people who use services may not experience safe care which meets their needs.
Food and drink should meet people's individual dietary needs
There were insufficient processes in place to make sure people do not experience poor nutrition or hydration. People did not have access to food or drink 24 hours a day. Individual preferences including timing and location are not taken into account when providing meals. Appropriate support is not being provided to fully assist and enable people to make a choice and provide assistance where required. This is required to ensure that people who use services are supported to have adequate nutrition and hydration.
People should be protected from abuse and staff should respect their human rights
People who use this service may not be fully protected from abuse or the risk of abuse because local guidance is not being put into practice and staff have not received up to date training in this area.
People should be cared for in a clean environment and protected from the risk of infection
There were inadequate guidelines, policies and training for staff on how best to prevent and promote good infection control.
There are no systems in place to manage and monitor the prevention of infection control to ensure the standards of cleanliness and hygiene is in place. There were no risk assessments in place to identify what infection risks had been assessed or monitored or how they would prevent or control an infection. The provider of the service should have regard to The Code of Practice for Health and Social Care on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance.
People should be given the medicines they need when they need them and in a safe way
People were not fully protected against the risks associated with the unsafe use and management of medication by making the appropriate arrangements for the recording, handling, administration and use of medicines.
People should be cared for in safe and accessible surroundings that support their health and welfare
People who use the service are not fully protected against the risks associated with unsafe and unsuitable premises as the premises are not being adequately maintained and appropriate measures are not in place to ensure all risks have been assessed and managed.
People should be cared for by staff who are properly qualified and able to do their job
The organisation has effective and fair recruitment procedures in place but not all records are fully up to date in relation to staff induction that staff may or may not have received.
There should be enough members of staff to keep people safe and meet their health and welfare needs
The provider does not always have a sufficient number of staff on duty, with the appropriate skills, competencies and qualifications to meet the needs of the people who use services. People living at the service are at risk of injury due to lack of staff on duty at night. The provider is not able to demonstrate that they have carried out a needs analysis and risk assessment as a basis for deciding sufficient staffing levels for people. This is required to ensure people who use the service are safe and their health and welfare needs are met by sufficient numbers of appropriate staff.
Staff should be properly trained and supervised, and have the chance to develop and improve their skills
Staff have not received supervision or up to date training and suitable arrangements were not in place to support the staff and current management arrangements. Staff are not appropriately supported to enable them to deliver safe care and treatment to people who use servces.
Sue McMillan, Regional Director for CQC in the North West says, “The care at The Greenways Rest Home is not good enough. 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.
“It is clear standards require significant further improvement so we will continue to monitor this service very closely to ensure these improvements are made and sustained.”
Ends
For media enquires, please contact David Fryer on 07901 514220, CQC press office on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.
Notes to editors
About the CQC: Snippet for press releases
About the Care Quality Commission
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.
We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.
We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.
Read the report
Read the reports from our checks on standards at Greenways Rest Home.