Management at a care home have vowed to turn the Burton-based establishment around after being told that it requires improvement.
On February 6, 2017, inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited Branston Court Care Home, in Branston Road, and rated the facilities, staffing and overall services as 'good'. Just five months later the inspectors returned and downgraded the home's rating to 'requires improvement'.
The home was re-inspected on Monday, July 24 and it was found that safety, responsiveness and how well-led the services are needed improving before it could be rated as acceptable.
The CQC monitors, inspects and regulates health-based services, from care homes to pharmacies to ensure they meet the standards of care that are expected of them and provides venues with feedback, in terms of how effective and safe they are performing.
Kay Cox, the managing director at Bupa care services which is responsible for Branston Court Care Home, has explained that wholesale changes have already been made at the home.
She said: "We have made a number of improvements since the CQC inspected the home last month and we are confident we'll be able to return the home to the high standards noted by previous inspections.
"We're investing in a new team; we have a new general manager and clinical services manager starting at the home soon, and we've also recruited a number of full-time carers."
Inspectors said in their report: "Improvements were needed to ensure clear records regarding people's medicines were available to them. People's welfare had been placed at risk and improvements were ongoing to address this and ensure people were safe."
Significantly, the safety of the home was poorly rated after issues were highlighted with the storage and administration of medicine, with facilities to store medicine apparently being confusing and the administration sometimes inaccurate.
An example was provided of two residents not being given their prescribed medicine and the reason not being recorded, therefore meaning nobody was aware of the reasons why for future reference.
It was also highlighted that while nine residents were taken on a day trip out of the home, those who remained were given very little to do during the day.
The report continued to detail: "We saw there was little interaction between the staff and people using the service. We observed that care staff, although present in lounge areas, spent a considerable amount of time completing care records which afforded them little time to interact with people.
"For example, we observed one person who was sat in the lounge and appeared withdrawn with little interaction between them and the staff team."
The report details that despite the home having high-quality monitoring systems in place, they were not being used effectively to help improve the safety of residents.
A number of changes and improvements have been implemented at the home since the report from CQC was released, according to management at the home.
Kay Cox went on to confirm that a new call bell system has been installed to make sure staff are able to respond to residents in need as quickly as possible.
She continued: "We've also increased safety by fitting new security doors in the home, and have worked to ensure that all medicines are stored and administered appropriately."
Issues regarding medication have been addressed, according to Kay Cox, by meeting with nearby suppliers, and internal training has been completed to make sure all medicines are stored and administered correctly.
