The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Mrs Gail Helen Curzon & Dr Robert Neil Curzon, providers of care to Harker Grange Nursing Home, near Carlisle, Cumbria that they must make improvements to protect the safety and welfare of people living there.
CQC carried out an inspection in May 2016. Inspectors found that the care being provided at, Harker Grange, was failing to provide care which was safe, effective, caring, responsive or well led. The home has been rated Inadequate overall and placed into special measures.
The report published by CQC can be found at: www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-486540557
CQC had previously inspected the home on 24 February 2015, when the providers were told they needed to take action to make improvements in the way it carried out suitable background checks on staff. This action had not been completed.
The inspection team found that the care being provided was not person centred and care files CQC looked at were not written in a person centred manner to ensure care and treatment of people was appropriate, met their needs and reflected their preference.
Some of the findings from the latest inspection included:
- Staff had not been subject to sufficient robust checks to ensure they were of good character and the provider had not deployed sufficient staff to meet all of the service user’s needs. In addition - staff were not receiving appropriate training to enable them to carry out their duties. The inspection team found evidence that some staff had a criminal history and inadequate references. There was no evidence that the registered provider had pursued any further references for staff or evidence that they had carried out any form of risk assessment to ensure people were safe.
- The service was not assessing risks to the health and safety of people who used the service and were not doing all that was reasonably practicable to mitigate risks. This included the nutritional and hydration needs of people who used the service.
- The premises required repair and refurbishment and infection control was not being managed efficiently. Areas of the premises were unsafe. For example two roof windows had been installed in two ceilings on the ground floor. Neither ceiling had been made safe following these alterations - there were exposed cavities between the ceiling and the roof which contained dirty insulation material.
Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North, said:
“I am disappointed at the lack of improvement since our inspection in February 2015 and because further serious issues have been identified at this inspection we have concerns about the state of repair of the building and the provision and management of the service.
“We found the care provided at Harker Grange Nursing Home fell short of the standards we expect services to provide. To be rated Inadequate in all five domains; safety, caring, responsiveness, effectiveness and well-led, represents very poor care.
“People are entitled to services that deliver consistently good care and we have told Mrs Gail Helen Curzon & Dr Robert Neil Curzon, the provider, that they must take action as a priority.
“We have been working with Cumbria County Council to ensure that people living at the home are not at undue risk. We will continue to monitor this care home. Services in special measures will be kept under review and we will not hesitate to use our enforcement powers to ensure the necessary improvements are made.
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