Tower Bridge Care Centre

Updated 16 April 2025

Date of inspection: 29 April 2025 – 10 June 2025. Tower Bridge Care Centre is a residential home with nursing, providing support to adults over 65 years, adults under 65 years, people living with dementia and mental health support needs. At the time of the inspection there were 112 people using the service. There was a registered manager in post at the time of the inspection.

The inspection was prompted in part by notification of an incident following which a person using the service died. This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident.However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of risk of safe care and treatment. This inspection examined both those risks.

Tower Bridge Care Centre was taken over by a new provider on 3 October 2024. This is the first inspection of the Tower Bridge Care Centre since the new provider had started running the service.

The service had an ongoing issue with mice in the building. They were working with pest control services to try and resolve the issue, however interventions from pest control were not enough to affectively monitor and resolve the issue.The service was in breach of legal regulation in relation to infection prevention and control, and good governance.

The service had enough staff employed to keep people safe. Pre-employment checks for care staff were completed safely. Staff received an induction at the beginning of their employment as well as regular training and appraisals. Staff completed refresher training for mandatory courses annually.People had care plans in place which documented their care needs. We found some care plans did not have information about people’s protected characteristics. Some care plans did not have adequate risk assessments for people living with conditions such as diabetes, and epilepsy. This was discussed with the management team. The risk assessments we looked at were quickly updated and we saw evidence to support this.The service managed people’s medicines using an electronic system which reduced the risk of medicine administration errors.The service had a range of policies and procedures in place for staff to follow to work towards keeping people safe and keeping the service running smoothly.

We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

Updated 16 April 2025

People and their relatives gave mixed feedback of their experience living at the Tower Bridge Care Centre. We received comments like, “I am stuck in here all day, I would like to go to the garden, but they do not have enough [staff] for me to do that” and “I tell the staff that I want this or that, they walk out, and I don’t hear anything else.”We found some care plans were not person-centred, and some risk assessments were not robust enough to give staff enough information on how to support people with complex needs safely. The service had a wide range of activities for people to take part in, but some people told us they were not able to access these activities.

Some people told us they were treated with dignity and respect. We received comments like, “[Staff] are nice, they are polite and respectful, they have been reassuring” and “It’s safe, we are very satisfied with things,” and “We think it’s a good place for [person] to be in.” People and their relatives told us they were involved in the development and reviewing of care plans and risk assessments. One relative said, “There is a care plan. My [relative] was involved in getting it organised, I am happy with that.”The service worked well with a wide range of services in the community to provide activities for people to attend outside of the service.