- Care home
Gateford Hill Care Home
Assessment report published 14 May 2025
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Gateford Hill Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to older adults with physical healthcare needs and people living with dementia. At the time of the assessment the service supported 58 people. The last rating for Gateford Hill Care Home under the previous provider was good. This provider was registered with us on 19 October 2023, and this is their first assessment. We have identified breaches in relation to person-centred care, consent, safe care and treatment, nutrition and hydration, safeguarding, the environment, staffing and governance systems. Medicines were not managed safely. Risks were not always identified, and staff did not always have guidance in place to reduce risks to people. Risks relating to the environment had not been identified or managed. Infection prevention and control measures did not protect people from the risk of infection. Staff did not always recognise incidents as safeguarding concerns. This placed people at an increased risk of harm. There were not enough staff on duty to ensure people were provided with food and drink in a timely manner. There were not enough staff on duty to meet people’s needs safely. People did not receive person-centred care and support. People’s rights were not always respected under the Mental Capacity Act. The registered manager did not have effective oversight and failed to act on known concerns. We found governance systems were ineffective and had either failed to identify issues or where issues had been identified timely action was not taken. We asked the provider for an action plan in response to our concerns, the provider responded in a timely manner addressing the issues we found.
People's experience of this service
People told us there were not enough staff available to support them which, at times made them feel lonely. Relatives we spoke with told us they worried about the safety of their loved ones due to low staffing numbers. People told us they often had to wait long periods of time particularly during the night for care and support. We observed staff to work hard using a caring approach, but many staff told us they didn’t have the time they would like to spend with people due to low staffing numbers. People told us staff were caring but felt staff rushed. None of the people we spoke with knew who the registered manager was and had not seen them in a long time. A person we spoke with said, “They don’t come as far as my room that’s for sure.” People told us they were invited to meetings about the service but did not receive any feedback following these meetings.