The Care Quality Commission has formally warned Bupa Care Homes (CFHCare) Limited stating that they must make urgent improvements at St Nicholas Nursing Home in Liverpool.
The warning follows an unannounced visit by inspectors to the home in September 2014 which was carried out to follow up on improvements required at a previous inspection.
Visiting inspectors found that the nursing home was failing to provide care which was safe, effective or well led; and four of the five national standards reviewed by the inspection team were not being met.
Following the inspection, CQC issued four warning notices requiring Bupa Care Homes (CFHCare) Limited to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents.
A full report detailing the findings from the inspection has been published on the CQC website this week.
Inspectors identified a number of concerns, for example:
- People were not protected against the risks associated with medicines because the provider's arrangements to manage medicines were not consistently followed; staff did not always have the information and skills needed to administer medication safely.
- The provider was failing to implement adequate infection control measures meaning there was no protection against contamination for residents, staff or visitors to the home.
- Equipment necessary to maintain standards were found not to be serviced correctly further adding to the cross contamination risks.
- There were not enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to fully meet people's needs.
- The home did not have an effective system to monitor the quality of service or to assess and manage risk.
Debbie Westhead, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North said:
“We have told Bupa Care Homes (CFHCare) Limited that they must take action to protect the health, safety and welfare of the people who live there.
"The lack of robust procedures to ensure the quality of service, poor standards of infection control and the shortfalls in medicines management must be addressed as a priority.
"The residents receiving care from St Nicholas nursing Home are entitled to receive services which are safe, effective, compassionate, well led, and responsive to their needs and it is unacceptable, that the provider has allowed standards at the home to deteriorate in this way.
"We are monitoring St Nicholas Nursing Home very closely in liaison with the local authority and Clinical Commissioning Groups for Sefton and Liverpool to ensure that people receiving care are not at risk of immediate harm, and we will return in due course to check that improvements have been made.”
Ends
For further information please contact CQC Regional Communications Officer Mark Humphreys on 0191 233 3519. Alternatively, the CQC press office can be contacted on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07789 876508.
Find out more
Read reports from our checks on the standards at St Nicholas Nursing Home in Liverpool.