- Care home
The Amwell
Assessment report published 23 May 2025
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 8 December 2024 to 18 December 2024.
This assessment was brought forward due to concerns around medicines and a lack of governance and oversight.
The Amwell is a ‘care home’ without nursing for up to 88 older persons living with physical disabilities and conditions such as dementia. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises, and the care provided. Both were looked at during this assessment.
The service was in breach of 5 legal regulations in relation to person-centred care, consent to care, safe care and treatment, nutrition and hydration, and good governance.
Medicines were not managed safely. The provider was unable to evidence people were receiving sufficient hydration to sustain good health. The provider did not work in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Care plans and risk assessments were not person centred and did not always have the necessary information to enable staff to provide safe care. There were not always enough staff to provide safe care, and staff did not always have the knowledge and skills to enable them to carry out their roles within the law. Infection prevention and control practices were not always followed. Governance systems and process had not been followed by the management team which meant the issues across the service were either not identified, or action was not taken when concerns were found.
The service had appointed a turnaround manager who had been in post 1 week prior to our assessment commencing.
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 measuresprovide a framework within which we use our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.
People's experience of this service
People did not experience consistent good quality and safe care. People’s safety was compromised due to a lack of effective risk assessments, and there were significant concerns identified regarding the lack of fluid people were recorded as drinking throughout the day.
Feedback from relatives was mixed. Whilst some did report feeling their family member was safe and taken care of, a number of relatives raised concerns about the safety, or treatment of their family members who lived at the service.
Some positive comments were received. A relative explained, “My [family member] seems very settled and more relaxed even than she was when she was at home.” A person told us they liked the variety of different areas they could relax in around the care home to have their own space.
We spoke with 1 person who lived at the service, and 15 relatives.