Ellerslie Court

Updated 17 February 2025

Date of assessment: 26 February to 27 March 2025. Ellerslie Court is a care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 14 adults of all ages, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of our assessment, there were 13 people living at the home. This assessment was carried out due to emerging risk.

We found 5 breaches of the legal regulations relating to safe care and treatment of people, person centred care, consent, staffing, and governance. This service is being placed in special measures. The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we use our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a time framewithin which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.

People were not consistently provided with safe care and treatment. The provider failed to listen to safety concerns, did not investigate or report incidents, and missed opportunities to learn and improve practices. They did not always share concerns with relevant authorities. The environment was unsafe, with outstanding fire risk assessment actions not addressed. Staffing levels were insufficient, and staff lacked regular supervision. Infection prevention and control (IPC) practices were ineffective, and medicines were not managed or administered safely. Care plans and risk assessments were outdated. The provider did not comply with the Mental Capacity Act 2005, failing to obtain proper consent for people. People were not consistently treated as individuals or given person-centred care. There was a lack of meaningful activities, low staff morale, poor leadership, and ineffective governance systems that failed to assess, monitor, or improve service quality.

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

Updated 17 February 2025

People and their relatives gave mixed feedback about the care and support they received. Family members and people described staff as “lovely”, “friendly” and “welcoming”. However, they also raised concerns over the lack of activities, stimulation, and heavy reliance on agency staff. One family member told us, “There has been a big changeover and new agency staff coming in, there is sometimes a communication barrier, I hope that improves.” Family members told us communication with the home was good and they were able to visit any time, without restrictions.

People told us they sometimes had to wait to receive the care they needed. One person told us, “I can sometimes be waiting more than 15 minutes for a staff member to answer my call bell, they are very busy” and another person stated, “I will be moved out of my wheelchair at some point today, when staff are less busy.”

While people and families expressed general satisfaction with their care and treatment, our assessment found the quality of the care and support did not meet the expected standards.