16 May 2012
Bramcote Hills Care Home is not meeting the essential standards.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Bramcote Hills Care Home they must make improvements to comply with the essential standards of quality and safety.
Inspectors have told the care home in Sandringham Drive, Bramcote, Nottingham, which provides nursing and personal care for up to 46 people, that improvements must be made to comply with the essential standards of quality and safety.
The unannounced inspection carried out on 22 Februarytook place to check if improvements had been made since a previous inspection.
The provider, Savace Limited t/a Bramcote Hills Care Home, was found to be failing to meet ten of the 11 essential standards of care and safety inspectors looked at.
Providers of care services have a legal responsibility to make sure they are meeting all essential standards of quality and safety.
When inspectors visited the home they found the care provided was falling short of standards people should be able to expect and improvements were needed
What inspectors found:
Care and welfare of people who use services
Some residents had no written care plans and staff relied on spoken advice from their relatives. This could lead to inconsistent management of people's needs and posed a risk to their health and welfare.
Safeguarding people who use services from abuse
The staff training matrix at the home showed that half of the workforce had received no training in how to keep vulnerable adults safe. Also, inspectors found no evidence that any notifications or risk assessments had been made to social services regarding recent incidents of residents trying to leave the building.
Cleanliness and infection control
The laundry facility at the home did not contain a wash hand basin to help prevent cross-contamination from infected materials. Absorbent clinical goods such as mouth swabs were stored in cupboards that were difficult to access.
Management of medicines
During CQC’s visit, nursing staff appeared to be distracted by other tasks while administering medicine. This concerned inspectors because mistakes could be easily made if staff were not focusing fully on the task at hand. CQC also noticed that there were significant gaps in medication records meaning it was unclear if medication had been administered or not.
Safety and suitability of medicines
A strong cleaning product which should have been locked away when not in use had been left unsupervised in a communal lounge area. This posed a considerable risk to residents, particularly those living with dementia conditions.
Staffing
Inspectors found that the service was understaffed for the amount of residents at the home. This meant meeting the needs of residents, supervising social activities within the home and giving one to one care was not always possible.
Supporting staff
New members of staff were not given any individualised supervision to monitor their skills, knowledge and development. They had alsonot received an induction to the level of Skills for Care Common Inductions Standards (CIS), which is a nationally recognised minimum standard in the care industry.
Assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision
Queries and concerns raised by residents were not dealt with in a timely manner. Residents often waited up to four weeks for their queries to get resolved.
Records
Inspectors looked at six people's files and noted that their needs had only been briefly recorded at the time of admission. No evidence of personal care plans or risk assessments being developed after admission were created. This lack of recording could lead to staff being unable to adequately meet people's needs.
Inspectors also identified a moderate concern relating to respecting and involving people who use services.
Andrea Gordon, Deputy Director of Operations (Central Region) for CQC, said:
“The failings at Bramcote Hills Care Home are a real concern. CQC has been working to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people receiving this service and we have told the provider where they need to improve.
“We will continue to monitor this service. If we had immediate concerns about people’s safety, we would take action straight away on behalf of residents.”
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 Helen Gildersleeve, regional communications officer, on 0191 233 3379. The CQC press office is also available on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.
Notes to editors
Find out more
Read the reports from our checks on standards at Bramcote Hills Care Home.