Benamy Care, Seaham, is rated as Inadequate by CQC

Published: 27 February 2015 Page last updated: 12 May 2022
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The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Benamy Care, a care home in Seaham, County Durham that it must make improvements or face enforcement action.

During an unannounced inspection in July, inspectors found that the home which provides care and accommodation to five people with learning disabilities, was failing to provide care which was safe, effective, caring, responsive or well led.

A full report of this inspection has been published on the CQC website today at http://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-112721378

Under CQC’s new programme of inspections, all adult social care services are being given a rating to help people choose care. Overall, Benamy Care has been rated as Inadequate.

The report identifies a number of areas in which improvements are required:

  • The home did not have suitable arrangements in place for obtaining the consent of people to the care and treatment provided for them. 
  • People were not protected from the risk of infection because people were not cared for in a clean, hygienic environment.
  • Inspectors raised concerns that there were not enough staff on duty to meet people's needs. Staff worked long hours with some shifts totalling 14 hours during which time staff had no opportunity for a break.
  • Inspectors found that people living in the home were not kept safe due to poor medicines management.
  • Staff were not always provided with sufficient training and supervision. 
  • Care plans for people living at the home lacked detail and were not being regularly reviewed to take account of people’s changing needs.
  • The home did not effectively monitor the quality of service that people received.

Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North, said:

“We found that the care provided at Benamy Care fell a long way short of what we expect services to provide. We have told them they must take action to resolve the issues we identified.

“While we did see some caring interactions between staff and people living in the home, the safety issues we identified needed attention.

“We have made it clear that we will return to the home to check that the necessary improvements have been made.  If not - we will take further action to make sure that people living there receive care which is safe, effective, caring and responsive to their needs.”

Ends

For media enquiries, call the CQC press office on 020 7448 9401 during office hours or out of hours on 07789 876508. For general enquiries, call 03000 61 61 61.

We found that the care provided at Benamy Care fell a long way short of what we expect services to provide. We have told them they must take action to resolve the issues we identified.

Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North

About the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.

We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.