Howard Court Care Home, Brampton, is rated as Inadequate by CQC

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Howard Court Care Home in Brampton, Cumbria that it must make improvements or face further enforcement action.

During an unannounced inspection in October 2014, inspectors found that they were failing to provide care which was safe, effective, responsive or well led. Inspectors found that improvements required as a result of a previous inspection in July 2014 had not been made, and they also identified further concerns.

A full report of this inspection has been published on the CQC website this week.

Under CQC’s new programme of inspections, all adult social care services are being given a rating to help people choose care. Overall, Howard Court Care Home has been rated as Inadequate.

Inspectors identified a number of areas in which improvements were required, including:

• People were not protected against the risks associated with medicines because the provider did not have appropriate arrangements in place for the safe administration and recording of medicines.
• Effective systems were not in place to ensure the prevention and control of infection.
• There was not always enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs.
• Recruitment of staff was not robust and the providers own policies on recruitment were not always followed.
• Staff did not always ensure that people were eating and drinking enough to keep them healthy.
• People living at the home had not been consistently 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.
• Where accidents and incidents had occurred, no actions had been put in place by the home to prevent reoccurrence. The provider did not have an effective system in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received.

Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North said:

“We found that sufficient improvements had not been made since our previous inspection and a number of concerns remain. We have told the provider that they must take action to resolve the issues we have identified.

“Although we saw some caring interactions between staff and people using the service, further improvements are required. The people for whom they are providing a service are entitled to services that are of a consistent high quality.

“We have made it clear that 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.”

When we propose to take enforcement action, our decision is open to challenge by the provider through a variety of internal and external appeal processes. We will publish a further report on any action we take.

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 07789 876508.