The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Meadows Edge Care Home in Boston, Lincolnshire, inadequate, and placed it into special measures following an inspection in February and March.
Meadows Edge Care home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 45 people.
The inspection was carried out to check on areas of concern that were highlighted at the last inspection. Inspectors looked at the areas of safe and well-led only.
As well as the overall ratings drop from requires improvement to inadequate, how safe the service is also dropped from requires improvement to inadequate, and safe remained as inadequate.
Greg Rielly, CQC deputy director of operations in the midlands, said:
“When we inspected Meadows Edge Care Home, it was disappointing to see a deterioration in the level of care being provided to people.
“Its unacceptable that areas we told leaders to improve last year still hadn’t been done. For example, staff said they would benefit from additional training in specific health needs. This training still wasn’t available even though staff continued to support people with complex needs.
“People’s medicines were still not being managed or given safely, and when errors had been made they weren’t corrected or recorded meaning people were at risk of receiving incorrect doses which could place them at harm. Staff also failed to safeguard people from the overuse of medicines including psychotropic medicine which was administered to people as a chemical restraint.
“It was also concerning that people weren’t being treated with dignity and respect or given control over how they wanted to be supported.
“For example, people were often woken up early so staff could support them with personal care which regularly caused distress. In addition, language used in care plans to describe people was disrespectful and offensive.
“We will continue to monitor the service to ensure all the necessary improvements are made. If we are not assured people are receiving safe care, we will not hesitate to take further action.”
Inspectors found:
People were not supported in the least restrictive way. Controls and restraints were used on people to ensure tasks could be completed, even when they were showing distress
There were insufficient arrangements in place to support staff. Staff did not receive regular supervisions to ensure they were able to safely meet people’s needs
The provider did not carry out reviews of behaviour charts and incident forms to ensure staff were supporting people in the least restrictive way and in their best interests
Relatives told us they were not kept informed or updated about their family members
The provider had not implemented any precautions to reduce risk before allowing staff to live in the care home in bedrooms next to rooms occupied by people using the service
People’s medicines were still not being managed or given safely. ‘As required’ medicines were being given routinely without appropriate review to ensure the use of them was safe or justified.