25 April 2012
Victoria House in Wallasey is not meeting six essential standards.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Victoria House (Wallasey) Limited that it must make improvements to comply with the essential standards of quality and safety.
Inspectors have found that Victoria House which provides residential care for up to 56 people and is located on Church Street in the Liscard area of Wallasey, has failed to protect the safety and welfare of its residents.
A report published by CQC says that the provider was not meeting all six essential standards inspectors looked at and in four of these areas a major concern was identified.
Providers of care services have a legal responsibility to make sure they are meeting all essential standards of quality and safety.
CQC inspectors visited Victoria Houseon the 7th and 9th March to follow up on concerns raised about standards of care.
Upon inspection CQC found that the care being provided was falling short of the standards people should be able to expect and improvements were needed.
Thereport, published on the CQC website highlights four major areas of concern:
Care and welfare of people who use services
People were not protected against the risk of receiving unsafe and inappropriate care because their care and support needs were not being properly assessed. Care plans viewed by inspectors provided only general information and did not reflect individual needs and lifestyle choices.
Safeguarding people from abuse
At the time of the inspection visit the manager and deputy manager had both resigned and there was no one person to oversee the service on a day to day basis. Inspectors were concerned that the appropriate arrangements were not in place to ensure that residents were fully safeguarded from the risk of abuse and it was not clear if all staff members had received safeguarding training. Since CQC’s visit a care consultant and agency manager have been appointed to provide day to day supervision of the care delivery.
Management of medicines
Inspectors found that the administration of medicines was poorly managed. Medical administration records were not always updated correctly to indicate when medication had been given to residents, and the systems used to monitor medication stocks were not robust.
Assessing and monitoring service provision
Inspectors found that the provider did not have appropriate systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of service being provided. Checks were not being undertaken to review resident’s care plans or to identify, assess and manage the risks relating to the health and welfare of people living in the home.
During their visit,inspectors also identified moderate concerns in relation to respect and involvement of people using the service and requirements relating to workers.
Ann Ford CQC Head of Compliance for the North West, said:
“The failings at Victoria House are a real concern and improvements need to be made quickly.
“CQC has been working closely with the local authority to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people receiving this service and we have told the provider where they need to improve.
“Where improvements are not made we have a range of enforcement powers that can be used, including prosecution, closure or restriction of services.”
Any regulatory decision that CQC takes is open to challenge by a registered person through a variety of internal and external appeal processes.
Ends
For further information please contact the CQC Regional Communications Team, David Fryer 07901 514 220 or Kirstin Hannaford 0191 233 3629.
The CQC press office can be contacted on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.
Notes to editors
Read the reports
Read the reports from our checks on standards at Victoria House (Wallasey).