Norfolk care home has failed to protect people’s safety and welfare says regulator
14 February 2012
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Priory (Watton) Limited that they must make improvements at Buckingham Lodge Care Home to comply with the essential standards of quality and safety.
Inspectors have found that the care home on Buckingham Close, Carbroke, Thetford, has failed to protect the safety and welfare of people receiving their service.
A report published by CQC says that the provider was not meeting all six essential standards inspectors looked at and in three of these areas a major concern was identified.
Providers of care services have a legal responsibility to make sure they are meeting all essential standards of quality and safety.
The visit to Buckingham Lodge Care Home, which provides accommodation for people who require personal or nursing care, took place in December 2011as part of CQC’s routine programme of inspections. When inspectors visited the care service they found the care provided was falling short of standards people should be able to expect and improvements were needed. Thereport, published on the CQC website highlights three major areas of concern:
Care and welfare of people who use services
Inspectors found that there were some important details missing within individual care files and inadequate evidence to ensure that these matters had been followed up and resolved. Patient referrals to outside organisations were not being correctly followed up or completed. This meant that people at the home were confident that they were consistently receiving the care they needed.
Safeguarding people who use services from abuse
Several staff had received no safeguarding training and some staff did not know what whistleblowing was. There were insufficient systems in place at the home to ensure that people are protected from harm.
Management of medicines
Inspectors found several gaps in medication recording sheets. There was also insufficient evidence to confirm that an effective auditing system was in place to protect people's health and welfare with the administration of medication. Three staff inspectors spoke with were unable to confirm when they last completed any medication training.
During their visit, inspectors also identified moderate concerns in relation to respecting and involving people who use services, supporting staff and assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision.
Frances Carey, Regional Director of CQC in the East of England, said: “The failings at Buckingham Lodge Care Home are a real concern and improvements need to be made.
“CQC has been working closely with Norfolk County Council to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people receiving this service and we have told the provider where they need to improve.
“Where improvements are not made we have a range of enforcement powers that 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.
The provider has given CQC assurances since the inspection that they will work hard to improve the service and achieve compliance.
Ends
For further information please contact Helen Gildersleeve, regional communications officer, on 0191 233 3379. The CQC press office is also available on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.
Notes to editors
About the Care Quality Commission
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. We make sure that care in hospitals, dental practices, ambulances, care homes, people’s own homes and elsewhere meets government standards of quality and safety – the standards anyone should expect whenever or wherever they receive care. We also protect the interests of vulnerable people, including those whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act.
We register services if they meet government standards, we make unannounced inspections of services – both on a regular basis and in response to concerns – and we carry out investigations into why care fails to improve. We continually monitor information from our inspections, from information we collect nationally and locally, and from the public, local groups, care workers and whistleblowers. We put the views, experiences, health and wellbeing of people who use services at the centre of our work and we have a range of powers we can use to take action if people are getting poor care.
