The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated The Rowans Care Home in Hull as inadequate and placed it in special measures to protect people, following an inspection in February and March.
The Rowans Care Home, which is run by the National Care Consortium Ltd, provides personal care for up to 53 adults, including some of whom are living with dementia or mental health conditions.
This inspection was carried out in response to concerns CQC received about the standard of care people were receiving at the home.
Following this inspection, the home’s overall rating has dropped from good to inadequate, as have the ratings for being safe and well-led. The ratings for being effective, caring and responsive have declined from good to requires improvement.
During the inspection, CQC found five breaches of regulation in relation to providing safe care and treatment, people’s dignity, safeguarding, staffing and governance.
The service has been placed in special measures, which means CQC will monitor it closely to keep people living there safe while improvements are made. CQC has also begun the process of taking regulatory action to address the concerns which The Rowans Care Home has the right to appeal.
Linda Hirst, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said:
“When we inspected The Rowans Care Home, we were disappointed to find that the quality of care had significantly deteriorated since our previous visit. People weren't always receiving safe care and treatment due to leaders having a lack of understanding of the challenges the service faced, and what improvements were needed to keep people safe.
“Our inspection team found that leaders ignored safety concerns, and didn’t investigate incidents, so the home could identify areas of learning and improvement. They also didn’t always report incidents to appropriate external organisations. For example, during our inspection, we needed to make four safeguarding referrals to the local authority due to people not receiving their correct medicines or appropriate personal care which could put them at risk of harm.
“Additionally, staff raised concerns with us about unsafe staffing levels, which meant that they were unable to support people’s basic care needs. During our visit someone was left in bed until lunch time, as there was no staff available to help them get up. This is totally unacceptable and people living at The Rowans Care Home deserve better choice and control of their lives.
“Staff also lacked understanding on how to support people who were living with dementia in a respectful way, particularly when they became distressed. It was concerning that during our visit, someone became distressed and had to be supported by a visitor as no staff were around to support them and give them the care they needed.
"However, it was positive to hear that people, and their families, felt informed about any changes to their care and support.
“We have told leaders where we expect to see rapid improvements and we will continue to monitor the service closely to keep people safe during this time. We have also begun the process of taking regulatory action which The Rowans Care Home has the right to appeal.”
Inspectors found:
- People’s care plans weren’t always up to date, or accurate, so staff weren’t aware what person-centred support people needed.
- Poor medicines management puts people at risk of not receiving the correct prescribed medication.
- People spent long periods of time without staff interactions.
- Staff did not feel their concerns were listened to.
- Leaders did not always work well with people and external organisations to ensure continuity of care.
- Some staff weren’t up to date with their safeguarding training, which could put people at risk .
The report will be published on CQC’s website in the next few days.