St George’s Care Home in Beccles, Suffolk, has been rated inadequate for a second time by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and remains in special measures, following an inspection in April and May.
The service provides care to older people, many of whom are living with dementia. It was originally placed in special measures by CQC in June 2021, after an inspection found that people living at the service were receiving poor standards of care.
The latest inspection was carried out to assess whether improvements had been made, but CQC found that there were still areas of concern, which were putting people at risk. There was a lack of person-centred care, and unexplained injuries weren’t investigated sufficiently.
As well as being rated inadequate overall, the service was rated inadequate for being safe, effective, caring and well-led. It was rated requires improvement for being responsive to people’s needs.
St George’s Care Home therefore remains in special measures and continues to be monitored closely by the CQC. If significant improvements aren’t made, enforcement action will be taken, which could include closing the service, to keep people safe.
Louise Broddle, CQC head of adult social care inspection, said:
“Following an inspection last June, we set out clear steps that St George’s Care Home needed to follow to ensure better standards of care for people.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t seen any significant improvement and we still have a number of serious concerns about the safety of people living at this service.
“Unexplained injuries and bruising to people weren’t investigated, which meant that the service couldn’t identify potential abuse. We also hadn’t been notified of some of the incidents or concerns, which is a worrying lack of transparency.
“St George’s Care Home has a history of failing to provide a good standard of care and has failed to make the necessary improvements. This is underpinned by a lack of effective leadership and a high number of changes to management, which has destabilised the service.
“We will continue to monitor the service closely and will not hesitate to take further action if we are not assured it is making the necessary improvements to keep people safe.”
The inspection found that there weren’t enough staff to meet people’s needs and risks to those living at the service weren’t always recognised or mitigated.
The appropriate checks weren’t always carried out on staff, and incidents and safeguarding concerns weren’t always recorded, so improvements couldn’t be made.
Some people either already had, or were at risk of, developing press sores and care to prevent these wasn’t always delivered in a timely way.
People’s medicines weren’t always well-managed, and one person who relied on time-critical medication for Parkinson’s Disease, had received it late three times in the past month.
Care and treatment wasn’t always provided in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and people weren’t always supported to have maximum control over their lives. An action plan had been put in place to address this, but it hadn’t had any real impact.
Those living at the service didn’t always receive adequate personal care. They were often found to have food on their clothes and their teeth were not regularly cleaned, which didn’t respect their dignity or demonstrate compassionate care.
People didn’t have the opportunity to take part in many activities to add meaning to their lives and promote their wellbeing, although the registered manager told CQC that a plan for these was being developed.
However, the premises at St George’s Care Home were accessible and met the needs of those living there. Their communication needs were identified and information about the service was available in accessible formats, including easy read and large prints.
People’s privacy was respected, and staff showed patience, speaking to people with affection. Feedback from relatives was also largely positive, with most saying they were confident that any complaints would be dealt with.
The care home also worked alongside other key services such as GPs and community nursing and healthcare teams to help meet the needs of people at the service.