The Farmstead in Telford’s rating has dropped from good to inadequate, and they have been placed in special measures following an inspection by Care Quality Commission (CQC) in December.
The Farmstead run by Sandstone Care Telford Limited is a care home that provides personal and nursing care. It gives support to older people, younger adults, people with dementia, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. At the time of the inspection 34 people were supported by the service.
This unannounced inspection was partly prompted due to concerns about medicines, how the service supported people’s health and care needs, and poor engagement with community professionals.
As well as the overall rating for the service dropping from good to inadequate, the ratings have also dropped from good to inadequate for how safe and effective the service is. It has declined from requires improvement to inadequate for how well-led it is, and from good to requires improvement for how caring and responsive it is.
The service is now in special measures which means it will be kept under close review by CQC and re-inspected to check on the progress of the improvements it has been told to make through re-inspection.
Amanda Lyndon, CQC deputy director of operations in the midlands, said:
“When we visited The Farmstead, we were disappointed to find leaders had failed to make sure staff understood what they needed to do, to provide the safe and effective care, that people deserve.
“During our inspection, we saw that people weren’t always treated in a compassionate way, and people had mixed experiences of how caring staff were.
“We also found that, people weren’t protected against the risk of harm as staff didn’t always speak up about poor practice. We noted that staff had witnessed abuse but hadn’t taken appropriate action when needed. Leaders should work to create an environment where staff feel supported to report these issues.
“The Farmstead also failed to make sure people’s rights were protected and that staff understood under the Mental Capacity Act.
“We saw that people weren’t always involved in decisions about their care and control of their lives. We saw someone having a decision made for them about what they should eat for lunch, and others who expressed a preference about the gender of their carer but weren’t always supported with this preference. However, we did see people were supported to follow their interests and take part in activities if they wished to.
“We’ve told the provider where they must make rapid improvements and we’ll continue to monitor it closely to ensure people are safe. If we don’t see these improvements, we will not hesitate to take further action.”
Inspectors found the following during this inspection:
- Staff did not always use the training they’d been given or follow the systems in place to keep people safe
- People were at risk of poor health outcomes because staff did not always make referrals to external health care professionals in a timely manner
- Policies to protect people from abuse were in place but not always followed
- People were placed at risk of harm because the provider failed to ensure people's medicines were managed and stored safely
- The provider had a complaints procedure in place, but this was not always followed
- Improvements were needed to ensure people's end of life wishes were discussed and recorded.
However:
- People were supported to maintain relationships with the important people in their lives. We saw visitors spending time with their loved one in the privacy of the person's room. People told us they were supported to keep in contact with their families
- People told us they enjoyed the activities which took place at the home. Staff told us there had been a guest singer the previous day. As some people were not able to attend the performance, staff had taken a recording so people could watch this in their own room. One person said: "It was lovely singing, I would've missed it without the girls [staff] bringing the video in for me."