Care home ordered to improve
Second ‘inadequate’ rating in six months
A CARE home for people with mental health problems has been put into special measures after inspectors found it was inadequate twice in six months.
The Croft in Stanley was told to make drastic improvements in March after Care Quality Commission inspectors uncovered a string of fail- ings at the home. Despite some limited improvements at the care home, the service was still not up to scratch when inspectors made an unannounced visit in May.
Now in special measures, the home must make drastic improvements in the next six months or it could lose its registration and no longer be able to operate.
Police had previously raised concerns about how often they had been called out to the home, which cares for around 25 people with a range of mental health issues and learning disabilities.
A ban on booze had reduced the number of police call-outs, the latest report found. However, one person told the CQC that people had turned to using high energy drinks in the home instead.
It was unclear if residents at the home were being given their medicines correctly, inspectors said.
The report said: “We found there The Croft Unit care home in Stanley, County Durham were discrepancies between the number of some of the medicines in the home and the records. We could not be reassured people had received their medicines in the way in which they were prescribed.
“Staff were caring and well-meaning towards people, however, we found whilst staff told us they enjoyed their work, their lack of understanding of people’s needs undermined their caring role.”
A spokesperson for Potens which runs the home said that the home is continuing to improve.
They said: “There has in recent months been a full change of management for The Croft, and the organisation’s protocols and procedures – whilst successful across the vast majority of our locations – remain in the process of fully embedding into this location’s service provision.
“We remain fully committed to continuing to drive forward with improvements.”