CQC requires immediate action to improve the standards at Harriets care home

In a report published today, CQC inspectors identified a number of repeated concerns following an inspection of Harriets care home based in Workington.

The inspection was carried out in November 2014 in order to follow up on improvements required at a previous visit in August 2014.

At this latest inspection CQC found improvements had been made to ensure the safe administration of medication, however concerns remained in relation to care and welfare, cleanliness and infection control and the provider’s ability to assess and monitor the quality of service.

Overall, inspectors found that the care home was still failing to provide care which was safe, effective, responsive or well led.

A full report detailing the findings from the inspection has been published on the CQC website this week.

Inspectors concerns included:

Care plans were poor. There were gaps in the records to tell staff how to meet people’s individual needs, and in some cases instructions included in care plans were not being followed. Risk assessments for people living in the home had not been reviewed and updated following incidents and injuries.

Robust and effective systems were not in place to ensure the prevention and control of infection. A recent outbreak of an infectious illness had placed people living at the home and staff at risk.

Appropriate cleaning materials were not available and a corporate policy for decontamination of the home could not be located upon the inspection team’s request.

The service did not have an effective system to monitor the quality of service being provided.
Debbie Westhead, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North said:

“We found the care provided at Harriets fell a long way short of what we expect services to provide. We have told the home that they must take action to address the issues we identified.

“While we did see some caring interactions between staff and people living in the home, the poor standards of care planning and safety issues we identified needed urgent attention. "The residents receiving care from Harriets are entitled to receive services which are safe, effective, compassionate, well led, and responsive to their needs.

"We have shared our findings with Environmental Health and Public Health England, We are continuing to monitor Harriets very closely in liaison with the local authority to ensure that people receiving care are not at risk of immediate harm.

“We are considering the need for further action against the service– although we cannot discuss the nature of that action any further at this stage for legal reasons.”