The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told, Ainsworth Nursing Home, Bury, Lancashire that it must make improvements to protect the safety and welfare of people living there.
CQC carried out an unannounced inspection at the home in June 2016 – it was a follow up to a previous inspection in January 2016, which was a follow up to an inspection in May 2015. At the May 2015 and January 2016 inspections, the service was deemed not to be meeting the regulations, consequently it was placed into and remains in special measures.
This latest unannounced comprehensive inspection took place on 6, 7 and 8 June; the service has been rated as "inadequate" again and therefore the provider remains in 'special measures'. CQC found that there was not enough improvement to take the provider out of 'special measures', the regulator, CQC, is now considering the appropriate regulatory response.
The inspection identified many failures to meet the regulations, including:
Staffing levels were not consistent with what CQC had been told by the manager. Inspectors found occasions when there were not the amount of qualified nurses or care staff on duty. The inspection team also witnessed an occasion during our inspection where the unit caring for people living with a dementia had been left without any staff members for approximately five minutes; resulting in people being left unsupervised. This left vulnerable people at risk.
CQC inspectors checked records relating to fire safety where they saw that the checks had not been completed since the 17 May 2016, when the maintenance person went on leave. This meant any fault would not be discovered until the maintenance person returned to work. CQC found the only fire drill that had been completed within the service was done on the 13 August 2015.
Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North, said:
“This is a very unsatisfactory report and what concerns me most is the continuing failure of the service. Having been rated as inadequate in May 2015 and placed in special measures, Ainsworth Nursing Home should have been making concerted efforts to improve. It is very disappointing that by January 2016 they had made little improvement and following this latest inspection there had been no progress at all.
“At our previous inspection we saw some improvements had been made in relation to the opportunities for people to engage in meaningful activities. However, we found there was continued lack of opportunities to stimulate people living with dementia. Some of the failures have the potential to affect the safety of service users .Sadly, the performance at the Ainsworth Nursing Home had deteriorated to such an extent that their rating has disappointingly returned to inadequate
“We will continue to work with Bury Council to ensure that people living at the home are not at undue risk and continue to monitor this care home very closely. Clearly people are entitled to services which provide safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care. The failure of this service to reach an acceptable standard in June will not be tolerated and CQC will need to consider possible enforcement measures.”
Any regulatory decision that CQC takes is open to challenge by a registered person through a variety of internal and external appeal processes.
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For further information please contact CQC Regional Engagement Manager David Fryer 07901514220 or Kerri James on 0191 233 3324 or 07464 92 9966
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