The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Marina Care Home in Southport, Merseyside, inadequate and placed it in special measures following an inspection in August.
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing levels, safeguarding and cleanliness.
Marina Care Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 33 people, some of whom are living with dementia.
Following this inspection, the care home’s overall rating has dropped from requires improvement to inadequate and the service has been placed in special measures. The service was also rated inadequate for being safe, effective, and well-led, and rated requires improvement for being caring and responsive.
Hayley Moore, CQC head of inspection, said:
“When we inspected Marina Care Home, we found a service where the standard of care had deteriorated since our last inspection. People’s basic safety and wellbeing needs weren’t always being met, and risks weren’t effectively managed.
“For example, people needing support with drinking had to wait long periods of time to get a drink. Fluid records showed gaps of up to 17 hours between drinks being offered which is totally unacceptable and placed people at harm.
“We saw a person needing a soft textured diet being given undercooked vegetables. We saw food which was too large and undercooked for a fork to go into it which posed a serious choking risk.
“We also saw staff place a hot meal on a person's knee in the lounge, the person was not able to manage this and was at risk of being burned until another staff member intervened.
“People were not protected against the risks from infection due to furniture in several bedrooms and communal areas being heavily soiled. In addition, people weren’t supported to clean their hands before mealtimes, there were no napkins available, and we saw a person trying to flick food off their fingers.
“In addition, safeguarding incidents, including injuries, which should have been raised with the local authority and CQC had not been raised on several occasions which put people at an increased risk of harm and meant no lessons were being learned to prevent reoccurrence.
“We will continue to monitor Marina Care Home closely to ensure people are safe. If we are not assured people are receiving safe care, we will not hesitate to take action.”
Inspectors found:
- Not enough staff were trained and competent to give people their medicines. Reliance on staff from a sister home had led to some minor errors because staff said they were exhausted
- Basic safety risks were ignored across the home. Inspectors observed wires from a hoover causing a trip hazard to the dining room and an extension cable used in a person’s room who was cared for in bed which posed a fire risk if they spilled a drink
- The provider had failed to ensure people were protected from risks associated with fire and evacuation information was unclear. Some bedrooms had two different fire plans on the door
- Not all fire doors closed properly when released. We raised this with the provider on the first day of inspection, but this had still not been addressed 13 days later
- Agency staff had not had a suitable induction to familiarise them with the home and people's needs
- Not enough domestic staff were deployed. Cleaning routines and checklists were not in place or were not robust enough to maintain acceptable levels of cleanliness in the home
- The provider had not ensured they received profiles of agency staff prior to them starting work and therefore, did not know whether they had the right training, skills and knowledge.
However:
- People's diversity and equality needs had been recorded in care records and one relative told us staff supported their relation to sing in their own language
- We saw staff were kind and caring when supporting people
- Information about people's life history, experiences, hobbies and interests had been recorded in care records together with information about the people who were important to them
- People had been supported to consider their wishes in relation to care at the end of their lives.