The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated St Andrews House in Earlsdon, Coventry, inadequate and placed it in special measures following an inspection in August.
CQC carried out this focused inspection to check the provider had followed their action plan following concerns found at a previous inspection. This inspection looked at the areas of safe, responsive and well-led only.
Following the inspection, the service’s overall rating dropped from requires improvement to inadequate. It was also rated inadequate for being safe and well led and rated requires improvement for being responsive.
St Andrews House is a care home providing personal care to up to 35 older people.
Amanda Lyndon, CQC head of inspection for adult social care, said
“When we inspected St Andrews House, we found that leaders lacked oversight and had taken little action to address the concerns found previously. It was worrying that the quality and safety of the service had further deteriorated which placed people at continued risk of harm.
“For example, the registered manager had not investigated or made any referrals about two separate allegations of abuse. CQC inspectors had to intervene and refer these incidents which is unacceptable.
“The management of fire safety risks had not improved since we last inspected which placed people at risk of harm, and also showed us that lessons hadn’t been learned.
“One person living at the home had fallen on 14 separate occasions over four months, with some falls resulting in injuries. There was no information in their care records for staff to follow to prevent it from happening again in order to keep them safe.
“However, it was positive that staff felt supported, listened to and valued by the management who supervised and held regular appraisals with them.
“People living at the home had opportunities to spend their time doing things they enjoyed and maintain relationships that were important to them. During our visit one person hosted a picnic and another person told us they were looking forward a visit from their daughter.
“We will continue to monitor St Andrews House closely to ensure people are safe and the necessary improvements are made. If we are not assured people are receiving safe care, we will not hesitate to take action.”
Inspectors found:
- Audits and checks to monitor the quality and safety of the service and to drive forward improvements remained ineffective and placed people at risk
- Not all staff had completed safeguarding training. This included a staff member who had been instructed to do this by 1 June but hadn’t when we inspected
- The provider could not demonstrate they had checked the agency staff working at the home were suitable
- The provider had failed to ensure the management team followed their policies and procedures, including staff recruitment. This placed people at risk
- National guidance wasn’t consistently followed to prevent and control the spread of infections and manage medicines safely.
However:
- The registered manager understood their responsibilities under the duty of candour
- People's feedback was listened to and used to make service improvements. Regular 'residents' meetings were held to gather feedback about the day to day running of the home
- People were satisfied with the service provided and described their home as comfortable and friendly
- Despite recording omissions in some care records, staff demonstrated they knew people well and they understood how to provide personalised care.