Care home rapped again by officials as patients left at risk

A CARE home inspected due to concerns over staffing and the safety of residents has been ordered to improve in all areas by the health watchdog.

It is the second consecutive time the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found Cherry Tree House, in Romiley, Stockport, not to be providing residents with a ‘good’ quality of care.

The home, which caters for up to 81 over-65s and specialises in dementia, was described as ‘safe’ by residents and relatives, who also said staff were ‘kind and caring.’

But, on their most recent visit, CQC officials found it was ‘still in breach of regulations,’ despite having developed an improvement ‘action plan’ following its previous inspection in 2018.

The watchdog’s report states: “At our last inspection we found that the systems for ensuring consistency of staff care were not sufficiently robust to ensure that agency staff knew people’s care and support needs.

“Not enough improvement had been made at this inspection and the provider was still in breach of regulation 12 in relation to ensuring staff have the qualifications, competence, skills and experience to safely provide care and treatment.”

Criticism of staffing at the 2018 inspection centred mainly around the ‘high use’ of agency workers and concerns that not all had a good understanding of the needs of residents.

But during the most recent visit conducted in October - the CQC noted that ‘although agency staff had reduced, there were still shortfalls in the recruitment of permanent staff and concerns in relation to consistency and delivery of safe care.’

One relative told inspectors: “I have been here over two hours and no one [staff] has been near. So much for 30 minute checks.”

Another added: “The staff are in chaos, there are times they don’t look like they know what they are doing, especially the agency staff.”

However one resident said staff ‘kept an eye on them all the time’ and the home had increased staffing levels on one unit due to the number of people who needed extra support with mobility.

Inspectors found that, while staff were ‘very busy,’ call bells were generally responded to in a timely manner - but those who were bedbound were often left for ‘significant periods of time’ without any form of interaction.

They also noted occasions where people at the home were asked to wait before they were supported with personal care.

The quality of care plans for individual residents was also found to vary across the home, and not all were ‘person-centred.’

The report states: “We saw that there were instances where care plans had not been followed, which has resulted in safeguarding investigations, complaints and staff being dismissed. The home investigated and responded to complaints, although not everyone was satisfied with the response given.”

A review of all safeguarding concerns since 2018 noted there was a recurring theme of care plans not being followed or treatment being delayed, leading to people being placed at risk of significant harm.

L&M Healthcare, which runs the home, did not respond to a request for comment.