The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Willow Brook House in Corby, inadequate and placed it in special measures following an inspection in May.
This unannounced inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing levels and safeguarding concerns.
The care home, run by St Matthews Limited, provides accommodation and nursing care for up to 43 people. At the time of this inspection, there were 36 people living at the home.
Following this inspection, Willow Brook House has been rated inadequate overall. It has also been rated inadequate for being safe, effective, responsive and well-led. It was rated requires improvement for being caring.
As a result, the service is now in special measures, which means it will be kept under close review by CQC to keep people safe and re-inspected to check sufficient improvements have been made.
Craig Howarth, CQC deputy director of operations in the midlands, said:
“When we inspected Willow Brook House, we found significant issues in many areas of the home including poor leadership. Our experience tells us that when a service isn’t well-led, it’s less likely they’re able to meet people’s needs in the other areas we inspect, which is what we found here.
“Inspectors saw there were significant staffing issues at the home. We found the provider hadn’t employed key staff to provide for the needs of people admitted who required multi-disciplinary care. In addition, there were a high number of vacancies for nursing and care staff which were being filled by agency staff who were not always familiar with people’s needs. The provider continued to admit people with complex mental and physical health needs without the resources to manage their care or meet their needs.
“Additionally, staff didn’t keep up to date records when people became unwell. This meant people were at risk as staff were unaware of their condition and any necessary healthcare needs they may have.
“During the inspection, we also found unopened medical appointment letters which is totally unacceptable because it indicates that people weren’t always attending their appointments and putting their health at risk. Leaders must action this as a priority as everyone at Willow Brook House must have the opportunity to attend their medical appointments so they can receive the appropriate care and treatment they need.
“Following our inspection, we reported our findings to the provider, so they know the areas where we expect to see rapid improvement. If sufficient progress hasn’t been made, we won’t hesitate to take further action to ensure people’s safety and well-being.”
Inspectors found:
- People weren’t always safe as the provider had admitted people to the home without ensuring they could meet their needs and were compatible with people already living at the home
- There weren’t enough staff with the skills, competencies and experience to meet people's clinical and care needs
- People didn’t have all their risks assessed and staff didn’t have the information they needed to provide for their needs
- People didn’t always receive their prescribed medicines as they were out of stock. People who required time critical medicines weren’t receiving these on time to prevent unmanaged symptoms of their conditions
- People weren’t involved in their care planning or asked for their feedback about the service
- The provider failed to ensure people's communication needs were met
- People's and relatives' verbal complaints weren’t recorded or always responded to
- The provider identified areas for improvement but didn’t have the resources or systems to implement and embed these into practice
- The provider's systems were ineffective in identifying and mitigating environmental or health and safety concerns
- People weren’t supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff didn’t support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.