Regulator tells Tadworth Grove it is not protecting the safety and welfare of people who use its services

Published: 12 September 2011 Page last updated: 12 May 2022

12 September 2011

Tadworth Grove Residential and Nursing Home is not meeting six essential standards.

Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors who visited Tadworth Grove Residential and Nursing Home, located in Tadworth, near Epsom, found that it was failing to meet six essential standards of quality and safety.

Tadworth Grove is owned by Bupa Care Homes (CFC Homes) Limited and provides residential and nursing care for up to 71people.

CQC inspectors visited the home in May 2011 as a result of concerns raised following a previous inspection. Inspectors reviewed all the information held about this provider, observed how people were being cared for, looked at records of people who use the services and talked to staff.

The CQC report, which is published today, has major concerns about three essential standards:

Consent to care and treatment

The service does not have suitable arrangements in place to obtain and act in accordance with the consent of people who use the service about their care and treatment. This means that people who use the service do not make decisions for themselves which impact on their safety and freedom.

Suitability of premises

People who lived in the residential dementia unit consistently described the close confines of their environment, with one person making reference to the feeling of being in jail. People living in the residential dementia unit do not live in accessible or comfortable surroundings that promote their well being.

Staffing

Serious risks to some people's safety and wellbeing were identified because there were not enough numbers of staff available who were suitably qualified to meet the assessed needs of people living in the service, or to ensure their health, safety and welfare.

Tadworth Grove must submit an action plan to CQC, outlining how it will address these concerns in order to meet the standards within 14 days. Inspectors will return to the care home unannounced to check whether the improvements have been made.

CQC Regional Director for the South East, Roxy Boyce, said: “The care at Tadworth Grove has fallen far short of the standards people have a right to expect.

“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.

“Our inspectors will return to Tadworth Grove very soon, and if we find that the provider is not making the required progress we won’t hesitate to use our legal powers on behalf of the people who live there."

By law, providers of care services have a legal responsibility to make sure they are meeting the essential standards of quality and safety. We will continue to monitor progress and we will check to make sure that the improvements have been made.

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, CQC has a number of new enforcement powers that enable it to act swiftly when services are failing people. These include issuing warning notices, restricting the services that a provider can offer or the way it is provided; or, in the most serious cases, suspending or cancelling a service. CQC can also issue financial penalty notices and cautions or prosecute the provider for failing to meet essential standards.

Ends

For further information please contact the CQC press office on 0207 448 9239 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 Tadworth Grove Residential and Nursing Home.

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.