Lack of staff blamed for failures at care home
INSPECTORS SAY THERE HAVE BEEN NO IMPROVEMENTS SINCE THEIR TWO PREVIOUS VISITS
A CARER at a Leicestershire care home worked a 75-hour week with others putting in 50-hour weeks due to longterm staff shortages.
A report which found failings at the home revealed that five unwitnessed falls happened when not enough carers were on duty.
Staffing issues at Huntingdon Court, owned by Leicestershire County Care Ltd, were raised in the previous two Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections but improvements had not been made when the watchdog visited again in September.
The care home, in Regent Street, Loughborough was rated inadequate for a second time this year and will therefore remain in special measures.
If improvements are not made within the next six months, it could be at risk of being de-registered.
In August, there were 11 accidents when 23 residents were living at the home.
Eight of the incidents were “unwitnessed falls”, the inspectors said.
Five of these took place in the afternoon/evening time when “staffing numbers were below those determined by the provider”, the CQC team observed.
There was “very limited” evidence of action being taken to prevent further accidents and this section of the accident record was left blank, according to the CQC.
Inspectors said: “Staffing numbers were not sufficient to meet people’s needs or keep them safe.
“Staff did not always have time to spend with people to meet their needs and keep them safe.”
They added that rotas showed staffing numbers “frequently fell below those determined by the provider”.
This posed a risk that people could receive unsafe care and support, inspectors said.
The CQC said the inspection was “prompted in part” due to concerns received about care and support provided to people living there.
Inspectors assessed whether the home was safe and well-led, but it was found to be neither. “People were not protected from the risk of avoidable harm,” the report said.
“There were a number of unwitnessed falls and opportunities to learn from accidents and incidents were missed.”
It added: “We saw people sitting in the communal lounge without occupation or stimulation for the majority of the day. Many people were asleep.
“These concerns had been identified at our last two inspections in April and November 2019.
“The required improvements to ensure people were safe had not been made.”
The CQC also highlighted issues with meals, saying: “Some people told us they did not like the meals provided and no action had been taken to address this feedback.”
Infection control was also a concern with inspectors observing staff use the same hoist slings between people and not cleaning the hoist before use with another person.
“This put people at risk of infections and was of particular concern during Covid-19,” they said.
A commode in a person’s room was described in the report as “stained and damaged, making it impossible to clean effectively” and there had been no recent infection prevention and control audit carried out.
Inspectors said that due to low staffing levels, “opportunities for people to follow their hobbies and interests were very limited and some people were bored and unoccupied for the majority of the time”.
Leicestershire County Care Ltd was asked to provide a response to the report, but has yet to do so.
Residents at another of its county homes – The Limes at Hinckley – were moved out recently after the service was de-registered last month.
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