A care home in Burton has apologised after health watchdog inspectors rated it as 'requires improvement'.
Poplars Nursing and Residential Care Home, in Rolleston Road, which is run by Monarch Healthcare, was told that while its staff showed kindness and consideration to its residents, workers were not always available for support.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) conducted an unannounced inspection at the care home on February 26, with the report now having been released.
The inspectors reported that the care home, ‘required improvement’ after looking at safety, effectiveness, responsiveness and how well led it was. They did rate it as ‘good’ in how it cared for residents.
The care home’s registered manager Alison Jenkins told the Burton Mail that the report was largely positive, citing that its residents were well cared for.
The care home accommodates up to 60 people. At the time of the inspection 48 people were there.
The inspector found that ‘staff were not regularly available within most communal areas throughout the day to provide social stimulation and ensure they were available to people if needed.
The report said: “We spent 30 minutes in one lounge where four people were sitting. During this time no staff came to check on people's welfare.
"In another lounge one relative said, ‘the staff are rarely in this area of the home. I don't think they stay in this area, it does worry me, as [name] wouldn't be able to call for help if they needed it’."
The report went on to say: "A person that lived at the home said, ‘They could do with some more staff; they are worked so hard, always rushing about and never a minute to spare.'
“We also observed one person living with dementia walking along a corridor unaided without using their walking frame. There were no staff in this communal area to remind them to use their frame; although this person did not fall and a member of staff did come in to the area to support them; the person had been put at risk of falling and potential injury by the lack of staff availability.”
The report also said: “People felt safe with the support provided to them by the staff team. One person said, ‘the staff look after me to the best of their ability and they are ever so polite to me’.
“People were consulted regarding their preferences and interests and the staff team knew people well. People were supported by staff that were trained, and they were supported with their dietary needs and to access healthcare services to maintain good health.”
The report also noted there were processes in place for people to raise any complaints and express their views and opinions about the service provided but improvements were needed to ensure people knew how to raise concerns, it said.
“People's rights to privacy and dignity were respected and they were supported to maintain relationships with people that were important to them. People's representatives were involved in the assessment and development of their care plans."
However, the report also said: “People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Although staff understood the importance of gaining people's verbal consent regarding the day to day support they received, some specific decisions had not been regularly reviewed. This did not ensure they remained consistent with the person's wishes or remained in their best interests when the person was unable to make an independent decision.”
Miss Jenkins said: “On reading the report it is largely positive in most areas and significantly it reflected staff showed consideration and kindness towards people and promoted their rights to make choices. People’s privacy and dignity were valued and respected and they were supported to be as independent as possible and maintain their individuality.
“People’s right to maintain relationships with people that were important to them were respected and promoted.
“People who used the service and their relatives were involved in developing the service; which promoted an open and inclusive culture. This is important to Monarch Healthcare ensuring that the people who live with us are cared for correctly and inclusively.”
She did admit the report highlighted some areas for improvement.
Responding to the fact staff were not always available to ensure people were supported, she said: “These were both around the same issue and was highlighted in one area of the home where the inspectors spent 30 minutes, all residents who choose to use these [communal areas] are risk assessed to ensure that they do not need high dependency monitoring and since the inspection the home has made some changes to how they record when the lounges are checked to rectify the area raised.”
On concerns about not always reviewing a person’s right to make their own decisions, she said: “The home has taken on the comments made in the report and has since implemented additional information to evidence how these decisions are reviewed."
With regards to a lack of daily activities and social interaction, she said: “The home was aware of this at the time of the inspection. The home employs three activities co-ordinators but one left without serving their notice period which did not allow the home to recruit into the position safely and therefore this impacted on the home. The home is still actively recruiting into this role, but it is important that we find the right person as we recognise this as an important aspect of daily life for people live at Poplars.”
She added: “Monarch Healthcare takes matters such as these seriously and would like to reassure all our residents and relatives that we are working closely with all departments to achieve positive outcomes for people living at Poplars.
“We apologise to everyone connected with Poplars for any concerns this may have caused and assure you of our commitment to providing exceptional standards of care at all times. If anyone wishes to read our full report it will be available via CQC and Monarch Healthcare websites or at the home.”
The inspectors overview after their visit to Poplars Nursing and Residential Care Home
People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement.
CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
People were accommodated in one building with support provided over three floors with five communal lounges for people to use. A courtyard garden area was also available that people could access.
We inspected this service on 26 February 2018 and the inspection was unannounced. At our previous inspection in February 2016, the service received an overall rating of good. At this inspection we found that improvements were needed and the service was rated as requires improvement. This is the first time the service has been rated requires improvement.
There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service but these were not effective in identifying all areas where improvements were needed.
Staff were not regularly available within most communal areas throughout the day to provide social stimulation and ensure they were available to people if needed.
Improvements were needed to ensure people's holistic needs were met by ensuring activities and opportunities for people to socialise were available on a daily basis.
People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Although staff understood the importance of gaining people's verbal consent regarding the day to day support they received, some specific decisions had not been regularly reviewed. This did not ensure they remained consistent with the person's wishes or remained in their best interests when the person was unable to make an independent decision.
There were processes in place for people to raise any complaints and express their views and opinions about the service provided but improvements were needed to ensure people knew how to raise concerns.
Recruitment checks were undertaken before staff commenced employment.
People were protected against the risk of abuse, as staff understood their role to protect people from the risk of harm and their responsibilities to raise concerns.
Individual risks to people and environmental risks were identified and minimised to maintain people's safety.
Medicines were managed safely and people were supported as needed to take their medicine as prescribed. Assistive technology was in place to support people to keep safe. Systems were in place to prevent and control the risk of infection.
People were consulted regarding their preferences and interests and the staff team knew people well. People were supported by staff that were trained, and they were supported with their dietary needs and to access healthcare services to maintain good health.
People's rights to privacy and dignity were respected and they were supported to maintain relationships with people that were important to them.
People's representatives were involved the assessment and development of their care plans. People who used the service and their relatives were involved in developing the service; which promoted an open and inclusive culture.
