Archived: Redruth Nursing Home

We spoke with one relative of a person who used the service. They told us 'I felt OK with the carers and the care that my wife received during the day, when it was permanent staff. I was worried about nights because of the agency staff. You just worried that people would not get their medication.'

We spoke with two nurses, one nurse told us that they 'raised several concerns about the lack of staff with whichever manager was in position at the time, but nothing gets done and no-one listens'. Another nurse told us 'over the weekend loads of medicines ran out' and 'the handover of shifts is not sufficient, you get to people and find that things have been missed, like pressure area care'.

We found that people with complex needs were at risk of harm as there were not enough nurses with the required skills and experience to care for them safely. We found that there were not enough staff to observe people who were at risk of choking or wandering. We found that where the provider had employed staff, that the criminal checks, suitable references, and previous work history had not always been checked.

We found concerns over the way the medicines were managed. We found concerns with the suitability of the premises and equipment. We found that the provider did not have systems in place to quality monitor the service.

We followed up the concerns by concentrating our inspection on the care of those people who used the service who required complex nursing care.

We spoke with one person who had complex needs, they told us that they received good care and were 'very happy here'.

We found that the equipment used for the care of people with complex needs was clean and well maintained.

We found that there were not enough experienced staff on duty to always provide experience and skills necessary to care for people with complex needs.

We found that appropriate checks were not always undertaken before staff began work.

We were told by relatives that there wasn't a lot of mental and physical stimulation through activities in the home. One person told us 'he is happy and settled here, but he gets bored as there is not a lot of activity'. We observed that there was little staff interaction with people who used the service who were in the lounge

We found that there were systems in place to assess, plan and deliver care. However, we found that not all people were receiving care that had been planned. We also found that not all the staff had received the training required to meet the needs of the people living in the home.

We looked at the infection control measures in the kitchens and found that there were areas that required improvement.

To help us to understand the experiences people have, we used our Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI) tool when the people were having lunch. The SOFI tool allows us to spend time watching what is going on in a service and helps us to record how people spend their time, the type of support they get and whether they have positive experiences.

People who used the service told us that they had enjoyed their meal and they had an excellent cook. They told us that they had two choices of meals and if they did not like what was on the menu they could have another option. One person told us 'I like my omelette, it's very good'.

Several people told us that the home was lovely and staff looked after them well. One person said 'I like it here and I get good care from the staff. Another person told us 'I am treated very well' and 'I could not ask for a better place than this home'. The people told us that they felt safe living at the home and would be happy to tell staff if they had any concerns. Several people told us that they had no complaints to make about their care because they were happy.