CQC rates Ashton Under Lyne care home Inadequate and places it into special measures

Published: 6 October 2016 Page last updated: 12 May 2022
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The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has put Kingsfield Care Centre, based in Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire into special measures to protect people using the service, after rating them as Inadequate following an inspection in July this year.

We carried out this inspection in response to information we received from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regarding a person who had fallen at the home and had sustained a serious injury.

Kingsfield is one of 31 care homes owned by Meridian Healthcare and is situated in the Ashton-under-Lyne area of Tameside. The home provides care, support and accommodation for up to 54 people who require personal care without nursing. Kingsfield had an attached unit, known as the Windsor Suite, where people living with dementia and higher support needs were cared for. However, this unit had been closed for redecoration and the people who were usually cared for in the unit were spending their days in the conservatory of the main lounge during this inspection.

We ask five questions, are services; safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. Overall, Kingsfield Care Centre has been rated Inadequate for all of these individual questions and has therefore been rated as Inadequate overall.

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

“People are entitled to services which provide safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care. We found the care provided by Kingsfield Care Centre fell a very long way short of what we expect services to provide, which is why we have intervened to keep people using this service safe.

“During this inspection we found that there were not always enough staff available to meet people’s needs. Staff told us about unsafe staffing levels but inaccurate rotas meant that we were unable to make a judgement about whether staffing levels were sufficient or not. It was worrying to see that throughout our inspection we saw many examples where people were left unattended or did not receive support in a timely way.

“Although people were supported by staff who were mostly kind and caring, a lot of the interactions we saw between staff and people using the service, were very task based and consent wasn’t always sought from people before care was provided. We were also concerned after seeing a number of instances where people were not always treated safely, or with dignity or respect, by some staff which we reported to management during our visit.

“We are now considering the appropriate enforcement action to the breaches in regulation we found at Kingsfield Care Centre.”

The full report from the inspection can be found here on our website.

CQC’s other findings included:

  • Inspectors did not see evidence of people or their representative’s involvement in their plan of care or descriptions of how people would like their care needs met. This meant that Kingsfield Care Centre was not responsive to people’s needs.
  • Care plans and risk assessments were in place; however, they did not always accurately reflect people’s current care needs. Inaccurate records placed people at risk of receiving inappropriate or unsafe care and support.
  • Inspectors found people were not always appropriately supported to ensure they had their nutritional needs met in a specifically prescribed way and documentation was not always accurately completed. There were observations that the dining experience for some people was not enjoyable due to insufficient numbers of staff being available to support people.
  • Inspectors found that people were not always moved and handled in a safe way or in accordance with individual assessments.
  • During an initial tour of Kingsfield on the first morning of inspection, CQC noted that some areas of the home had a malodour and there were issues with infection control identified in a number of areas of the building.
  • During this inspection, CQC raised a safeguarding alert with the local authority about concerns that inspectors had relating to care and support practices; specifically lack of medical attention, people’s dignity and unsafe moving and handling of people. CQC also reported our initial findings to the local authority commissioning team.

Due to CQC findings on the first day of inspection the provider invoked a 4-week minimum, voluntary suspension on new admissions to the home until the issues identified had been resolved.

Ends

For further information, please contact Kerri James, CQC Regional Engagement Communications Officer by email kerri.james@cqc.org.uk or by phone on 07464 92 9966.

Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here.

Please note: the press office is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters. For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.

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.