Winsford Grange Care Home, in Winsford, Cheshire West, has been rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), following an inspection carried out in July.
Winsford Grange Care Home run by Park Homes (UK) Limited, is a care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 60 people. At the time of the inspection, 48 people were living at the home.
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns CQC had received around people’s safety and personal care being provided to people.
Following this inspection, the home’s overall rating has dropped from requires improvement to inadequate. Its ratings for being safe, responsive and caring have dropped from good to inadequate. Effective and well-led have declined from requires improvement to inadequate.
The service has been placed in special measures, which means it will be kept under close review by CQC to keep people already living there safe whilst improvements are made and CQC is using its regulatory powers further.
Karen Knapton, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said:
“When we inspected Winsford Grange Care Home, we were concerned to find people were at risk because not all staff had been trained well enough to follow safeguarding processes to keep people safe. Staff also told us they were concerned about low staffing levels and were worried about their ability to keep people safe and provide effective care
“The service didn’t always request external professional advice when required, or make external referrals as required. For example, staff were making decisions regarding people's dietary needs without referrals to speech and language therapist. This put people at risk of having diets which could cause them to choke on their food.
“Staff weren’t always caring for people with dignity and respect, telling us they didn’t always have time to give residents a shower or a bath or help with other personal support needs.
“Some people with complex needs didn’t get the support they required and were sometimes excluded from activities as the service didn’t have the number of staff required to support them safely.
“The home wasn’t clean, as there weren’t enough domestic staff to carry out these duties or make sure people had clean clothes. We also saw ripped chairs and damaged furniture which were infection control risks.
“We’ve told Winsford Grange Care Home where we expect to see rapid improvements and are using our regulatory powers further to protect people. We will continue to monitor the home closely during this time.”
Inspectors found:
- The service did not work effectively in partnership with other services and therefore outcomes for people were poor. Local stakeholders were concerned regarding the lack of support provided to people living within the service.
- Safety and continuity of care was not always treated as a priority throughout people’s care journey.
- People’s individual needs and choices were not considered, care was not planned collaboratively and people’s consent to care was not sought appropriately.
- There were insufficient quantities of medicines available to meet people’s needs. This meant several people had been left without their prescribed medication which caused an impact their health and wellbeing.
- People said they were not involved in creating their care plans, one person told inspectors they had not seen their care plan and staff don’t talk about their support.
The report will be published on CQC’s website in the next few days.