The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has dropped the rating for The Willows care home from good to inadequate and issued three warning notices following an inspection in March.
The Willows is a residential care home for older people. The home was caring for 57 people at the time of this inspection, which was prompted by safety concerns people shared with CQC.
As well as dropping from good to inadequate overall, so have the ratings for how safe and well-led the service is. The home has dropped from good to requires improvement for being effective, caring, and responsive.
CQC has issued The Willows with three warning notices in relation to safety, staffing, and management to focus their attention on making immediate improvements in these areas.
Suffolk County Council carried out a separate safeguarding investigation and has suspended new admissions to the home.
Hazel Roberts, CQC deputy director of operations in the East of England, said:
“We were very concerned to find people’s needs and preferences weren’t being met safely at The Willows. We found there weren’t enough staff, the home wasn’t acting to reduce risks, and people’s individual needs were frequently overlooked.
“Staff weren’t regularly supporting people with their personal care, such as bathing and brushing their teeth, which compromised their dignity and risked their health. This reflected a severe shortage of staff, which was worsened by gaps in staff training and poor care records, with some people telling us that staff didn’t know how to support them.
“Inspectors also found staff weren’t always recording safety incidents, and these weren’t always acted on or raised as safeguarding concerns to keep people safe. Our inspectors saw one person kick another in a communal area when there weren’t any staff around. When we alerted staff, they told us these two residents were often in conflict. However, nothing had been done to address this or make sure they were safe.
“Leaders were unaware of the problems in the service, despite many of them being clearly visible to our inspectors when walking around the home.
“We’ve shared our findings with management at The Willows and told them where we expect to see immediate improvements. We’ll continue to monitor the home very closely to ensure people are safe in the meantime and won’t hesitate to take further action if improvements are not made quickly.”
Inspectors also found:
- People shared mixed feedback about the service. Many people raised concerns about safety and low staffing, telling inspectors staff were slow to respond to call bells. While inspectors saw some individual staff acting in caring ways, some people didn’t feel all staff were kind
- People’s care records were poor quality, and weren’t always up to date with people’s risks and how to reduce these. This meant staff didn’t always understand how to manage people’s individual needs and risks
- People’s preferences in their care weren’t always recorded or listened to, and they weren’t supported to make as many choices as possible
- Staff didn’t always ask people’s consent to provide care, and the service didn’t always make decisions in line with the Mental Capacity Act, which risks infringing people’s human rights
- Staff didn’t have time to talk to the people they cared for, and people didn’t always have access to activities or hobbies
- Leaders didn’t always log or respond to the concerns raised by people in the service, their loved ones, or staff members
- Leaders had allowed a poor staff culture to develop, in which not all staff felt supported by leaders and some told inspectors about bullying at work
- Leaders had failed to sustain previous improvements to the service. The home’s leadership was inconsistent, having had six registered managers since 2018.