Archived: Eaton Court Residential Home

Updated 29 October 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Prior to the inspection we had been informed of concerns via the local authority and a whistle-blower regarding staffing at Eaton Court. We also received information of concern regarding premises and broken equipment.

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of Eaton Court on 23 September 2016. This inspection was carried out by an adult social care inspector.

We observed care and support for a number of people who lived at the home. We reviewed a range of documentation including care plans, personal evacuation plans, staff training records, and other records relating to how the home is managed.

Updated 29 October 2016

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of this service on 23 September 2016. This inspection was carried out following several whistle-blowers coming forward about the service. The allegations were that the building where people lived, was not of an acceptable standard. People who used services and others were not protected against the risks associated with unsafe or unsuitable premises because of inadequate maintenance. The concerns also alleged there were not sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet people’s requirements safely. We found that this was the case and that there were breaches of Regulations 15 and 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.

Eaton Court Residential Home is situated in a residential area of Wallasey, close to local amenities and transport. There is parking to the front of the property and a small garden to the rear. It provides accommodation for up to 26 persons who require personal care. There were 13 people living in the home at the time of our inspection. The service employed 19 staff including the registered manager and the financial manager.

The home required a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. There was a registered manager in post but they were on holiday at the time of this inspection. The financial manager was in attendance.

We observed that staffing levels were a concern as we saw that staff were providing care for people who were in bed or dealing with visiting professionals leaving the rest of the home with no care support. Feedback from staff, relatives/visitors also confirmed that they felt there was a problem.

We saw the premises were in need of redecoration and some areas had been placed ‘out of bounds’ due to disrepair. We also saw that water temperatures were not regulated in some communal areas of the home. For some weeks we found that a bath chair had been out of commission which meant that some people had not been able to access bathing facilities.