The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Leftwich Community Support Centre in Northwich, Cheshire that it must make improvements or face further enforcement action.
During an unannounced inspection in November 2014, inspectors found that the respite service operated by Cheshire West and Chester Council, was failing to provide care which was safe, effective, responsive or well led.
A full report of the latest inspection has been published on the CQC website this week. www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-142887482.
Under CQC’s new programme of inspections, all adult social care services are being given a rating to help people choose care. Overall, Leftwich Community Support Centre has been rated as Inadequate.
CQC has issued the provider with three warning notices setting a deadline for improvements in relation to the care and welfare of people who use services, the management of medicines and quality assurance.
Inspectors identified a number of areas in which improvements were required, including:
- Medicines were not managed safely and as a result some people did not receive their medication as prescribed. Storage of controlled drugs did not meet legal guidelines.
- People may have been deprived of their liberty without appropriate authorisation as assessments were not taking place and staff had limited knowledge and understanding about the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
- The service was not monitoring people’s weight effectively. Where people had lost or gained weight, little or no action had been taken to address this.
- Some care plans and records were not person centred and did not always reflect people’s personal preferences, nor were they being updated to reflect people’s changing needs.
- The provider did not have an effective system in place to regularly assess and 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 Leftwich Community Support Centre fell a long way short of what we expect services to provide.
“We have told the provider that they must take action to resolve the issues we have identified as a priority and we are monitoring the situation closely in liaison with the local authority to ensure people are safe from any immediate risk.
“The people receiving support at Leftwich Community Support Centre are entitled to services that are of a consistently high quality.
“We will return to inspect the home to check that the provider has made all the changes required to ensure people are safe and well cared for. If we find that this is not the case we will consider using our legal powers further to protect the people who live here.”
When we propose to take enforcement action, our decision is open to challenge by the provider through a variety of internal and external appeal processes. We will publish a further report on any action we take.
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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 Leftwich Community Support Centre.