Care homes ‘must improve’

TWO Valley care homes have been given overall ‘requires improvement’ ratings by Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors.

Both Danesmoor Residential Care Home in Haslingden, and Ash Cottage Care Home in Edenfield received ‘requires improvement’ in the ‘safe’ and ‘well-led’ categories, and ‘good’ ratings in the ‘effective’, ‘caring’ and ‘responsive’ categories.

Danesmoor Residential care home, on Helmshore Road, was visited by the CQC on May 2 this year.

The home, which currently has 14 residents, was deemed to have not resolved issues with the safe management of medicines, highlighted during a previous inspection in July 2017 - leaving the home in breach of regulations.

The report said: “Medicines were not managed safely.

“People were at risk of unsafe administration because records had not been developed to ensure their safe administration.”

Inspectors deemed the service to have not been consistently well led.

In their report, they said: “There were mixed responses about the availability of the registered manager and how it affected the running of the service.”

There was positive feedback from inspectors, however, who found that staff were caring and that the service was effective and responsive.

The report said: “People had plans of care which included essential details about their needs and outcomes they wanted to achieve.”

Separately, Ash Cottage care home, on Crow Wood Road, received their rating after a visit on July 4-5.

This is the second consecutive time they have been rated as ‘requires improvement’, although inspectors noted that improvements had been made since the last inspection in June 2017.

The CQC found that the service was not consistently safe. The report said: “Reporting systems needed to be updated to ensure the appropriate action was taken to keep people safe.”

Inspectors found issues with auditing systems, saying shortfalls had not been recognised and that this lack of effective auditing represented a breach of regulation.

However, they found the home, which has 18 residents, to be comfortable, those interviewed said they were happy with the service they received.

The report said: “During this inspection we found improvements had been made. People told us they were happy with the service they received and felt staff had the skills they needed - they said, ‘They look after me. I couldn’t be happier’ and, ‘I am very satisfied; it is a lovely place’.”