The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Weston Park care home, Macclesfield that they must make improvements to protect the safety and welfare of people they care for. It follows an inspection in October 2017.
Weston Park is registered to provide accommodation and nursing care for up to 118 people. At the time of the inspection, 79 people were using the service. People lived in four separate units, which ranged from general nursing support to specific units for people who were living with dementia.
At this inspection the service was rated inadequate for safety, effectiveness, responsiveness, and well-led and requires improvement for caring. Overall, Weston Park was rated as inadequate.
Some of the findings from the latest inspection included:
Recruitment procedures were not always being followed and there was a risk that the systems in place did not ensure that suitable people were employed. Inspectors found that systems to ensure that there were sufficient numbers of staff on duty were not always effective, because there were occasions when staff absences could not be covered. There was a high usage of agency staff.
Inspectors found shortfalls in the safe administration of medications. CQC were advised that there had been a deterioration in one person over the previous few weeks and they were increasingly agitated throughout the day and night. When inspectors checked the person's medication administration record and saw that in the three weeks prior to the inspection, 19 doses out of 42 prescribed doses of Lorazepam medication had not been administered.
Ros Sanderson, Head of Inspection, North East and Coast said:
“I expect providers should use our inspection reports to help address their problems and rectify them as a matter of urgency. It is very disappointing to report that some of the shortfalls reported are having a detrimental effect on the safety and welfare of people. In the instance of one person not receiving their medication this is of great concern. We advised the service of our concerns immediately upon finding this information.
“At a previous inspection we found that people's nutritional needs were not being met. At this inspection we found that some improvements had been made but not enough progress was being made. Feedback from several people indicated dissatisfaction with the food, a number of people made complaints about the standard and temperature of the food being served.
“Care planning was poor. During the inspection, we observed that one person who was seated in the lounge, was distressed and anxious. An agency member of staff went to the person on a number of occasions but was unable to reassure them and appeared to increase their agitation. When we reviewed the person's care plan and we saw that there was no care plan in place with regards to the person's psychological needs and insufficient information available for staff about how best to support the person's needs.
“Weston Park was poorly led. Senior managers were not in the habit of reporting all safeguarding incidents. In addition the service had not made sufficient improvement since the last inspection. Lack of effective governance or systems meant that patterns of risk were not always being identified or actioned.
“The service consisted of four units; inspectors could see that there had been ineffective leadership within each of the units, with gaps in staff supervision, training and induction evidenced. Medication audits undertaken had not been sufficiently robust enough to identify the failings found of the day of the inspection regarding out of stock medication and use of thickeners.
“People are entitled to services which provide safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care, consequently Weston Park care home has been placed in special measures. We are currently considering our options and if not enough improvement is made, we will take action in line with our enforcement policy to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service.”
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It is very disappointing to report that some of the shortfalls reported are having a detrimental effect on the safety and welfare of people.
Ros Sanderson, Head of Inspection, North East and Coast