Sunday 2 October 2011

Hertfordshire nursing home fails to protect safety of residents

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) released the following press release on Friday:

Glendaph Nursing Home, in Leominster, not meeting 11 essential standards.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told the owners of Glendaph Nursing Home, in Leominster, that they must make improvements to comply with the essential standards of quality and safety.

Inspectors have found that the home, in North Road, Kingsland, has failed to protect the safety and welfare of its residents.

A report published by CQC says that the provider, Geoshine Limited, was not meeting 11 of the 12 essential standards inspectors looked at.

Providers of care services have a legal responsibility to make sure they are meeting all the essential standards of quality and safety.

The inspection at Glendaph Nursing Home, which provides nursing care for adults, took place in August 2011 to check whether improvements had been made in relation to concerns raised by CQC in an earlier inspection.

When inspectors visited the home they found the care provided is falling short of standards people should be able to expect and improvements are needed.

Areas of concern can be found below.

Care and welfare of people who use the services

While the home had worked hard to make improvements to the standard of nursing care, people had still been put at risk of not receiving safe and appropriate care and treatment.

Safeguarding people who use services

Although some safeguarding alerts were raised appropriately by the home, inspectors found this was not always the case and people who use the service had been put at risk of abuse or neglect and of not having their rights respected or upheld.

Safety and suitability of premises

The people who use the service had been put at risk because their home had not been maintained in a safe and suitable manner.

Safety, availability and suitability of equipment

Some improvements had been made in relation to the level of suitable equipment in the home but people using the service had been put at risk when equipment had not been used correctly or well maintained.

Supporting staff

The people who use the service had been put at risk of not always having their needs met by staff who were fully trained and well supported.

Assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision

Inspectors found that due to ineffective decision making, monitoring and management of the service, people had been put at risk.

Records

Records kept in the home were not always accurate and complete.

Andrea Gordon, Regional Director of CQC in the West Midlands and East Midlands, said: “The failings at Glendaph Nursing Home are a real concern and improvements need to be made.

“The provider needs to ensure that staff are properly trained, that the premises and equipment are well maintained and that safeguarding matters are reported appropriately in order to guard against such incidents reoccurring.

“CQC has been working closely with Herefordshire Council and Wye Valley NHS Trust to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the residents and we have told the provider where they need to improve.

“Where improvements are not made we have a range of enforcement powers which can be used, including prosecution, closure, or restriction of services. “

Any regulatory decision that CQC takes is open to challenge by a registered person through a variety of internal and external appeal processes.

1 comment:

Assisted Living Oakland said...

The nursing home quality measures should routinely assess the resident's physical and clinical conditions and abilities, as well as preferences and life care wishes. These assessment data should be converted to develop quality measures that give consumers another source of information that shows how well nursing homes are caring for their residents' physical and clinical needs. Thanks a lot.