The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Haythorne Place inadequate and placed it in special measures to protect people following an inspection in May.
Haythorne Place, run by Roseberry Care Centres GB Limited, is a care home providing people with personal and nursing care, some of whom were living with mental health conditions or dementia. The service can support up to 120 people. At the time of this inspection there were 75 people living the home.
The inspection was prompted in part due to an incident following which a person using the service died. The information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about environmental safety and the standard of care, including adherence to care plans, policies and procedures.
The incident which occurred is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any further regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident.
As well as the service’s overall rating going down from requires improvement to inadequate, so have the ratings for being safe and well-led. It’s rating for being caring dropped from good to requires improvement. On this occasion, CQC partially inspected how effective and responsive the service was, focusing on areas where they received concerns. Therefore, it remains rated as good from their previous inspection.
The service has been placed in special measures, which means it will be kept under close review by CQC to keep people safe and it will continue to monitor to check sufficient improvements are being made. If CQC doesn’t see rapid and widespread improvements, further action will be taken in line with our enforcement powers.
Alan Stephenson, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said:
“When we inspected Haythorne Place, it was concerning to see a lack of strong leadership, or a culture that didn’t encourage high-quality care. This was affecting people living at the home as there weren’t effective processes in place to enable staff to provide safe, dignified, person-centred care.
“We saw people weren’t safeguarded from abuse and avoidable harm due to low staffing levels. Staff weren’t always able to support people quickly, or as often as they needed, with people being left alone for long periods of time.
“Staff couldn’t always protect people from the risk of infection because the home was dirty and many areas had a bad smell making it an unpleasant environment. Staff didn’t lock the waste removal rooms which contained harmful chemicals which was concerning when Haythorne Place is home to people with dementia who can become easily confused.
“Some people told us they felt there weren’t many activities to take part in. Staff acknowledged this and told us that accessing the community was an issue due to lack of staff and drivers.
"We have told leaders at Haythorne Place where we expect to see rapid and widespread improvements and will continue to monitor them closely to keep people safe while this happens. We will return to check on their progress and won’t hesitate to take further action if people are not receiving the care they have a right to expect.”
Inspectors found:
- The provider did not always share information with partners consistently or in a timely manner
- Risk assessments and people’s care plans were not always accurate or detailed enough to ensure safe and effective care
- Staff training was not completed at a satisfactory level across the service
- Some people did not feel involved in their care planning
- We found that staff morale and well-being at the service was low
- People’s dignity was not always maintained.
However:
- People told us they felt able to discuss their concerns with staff.