Care home told to improve amid concerns about staff
THE health watchdog has raised concerns over the competence of nursing staff at a Stockport care home.
A report by the CQC found that residents at Fernlea were not always given medication as prescribed, while others had been put at risk of harm by carers not following risk assessments.
The Hazel Grove home has now been ordered to improve by inspectors, who recorded four breaches of regulations during two recent visits.
However, the establishment - which provides nursing and personal care for people aged over 65 was also found to be caring and responsive.
The report says people are treated with dignity and respect by compassionate staff who show ‘the utmost empathy’.
And both residents and relatives praised the home, variously describing it as ‘warm and friendly’, ‘well organised’ and ‘supportive’.
But inspectors - having initially gone in due to complaints about the care of residents with bed sores - found a number of concerns.
Risk management plans for residents were not always up to date, accurate or fully complete.
Five residents had care plans for wounds they had - but some of these were found to be incomplete or missing information important to ‘safely and effectively monitor the progress or deterioration of wounds’.
Despite this being discussed with the registered manager on the first day of the visit, officials found the information was still missing when they returned a month later to complete the inspection.
And staff did not always follow the instructions in risk management plans, placing residents ‘at risk of skin breakdown or a deterioration of an existing pressure ulcer’.
The report states: “The provider had not always ensured that nurses caring for people with wounds had the competence, skills and experience to do so safely.”
It adds that, while competency checks had been carried out, these were completed by other nursing staff or a member of the non-nursing management team.
Inspectors also found that staff had administered doses of medicines both lower and higher than those prescribed by a doctor, increasing the risk of a medicine being ineffective or an overdose.
Medicines were not always managed or stored safely - and when they had to be given into a stomach tube rather than by mouth, the home did not have a care plan for doing this in a safe way.
Although there was no evidence that people had been harmed, inspectors found they had been placed at the risk of harm.
Moreover, inspectors said that medication errors - and the failure to pick these up - showed a ‘lack of oversight and leadership in the safe management of medicines.
Leadership at Fernlea was also found to have ‘deteriorated’ since the last inspection and ‘did not always support the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care’.
The home must now provide the CQC with an action plan setting out what it will do to improve its quality and safety standards.
Officials will work with the home and Stockport council to monitor its progress.
Olea Care, which runs Fernlea, did not respond to a request for comment.