Care homes not up scratch says government standard watchdog

Masson House - which provides personal care for up to 18 adults - was rated as requiring improvement while Ivonbrook Care Home - which provides nursing and personal care for up to 40 people - was rated as inadequate.

Now Masson House will be expected to provide the CQC with a full plan setting out how staff will address its problems and Ivonbrook Care Home may be subject to ‘further action on behalf of those who use its service’ by the CQC .

The CQC report for Masson House reads: “Records we looked at were very poorly maintained and updated.

“Care plans had not been updated they were not personalised and did not always included decisions people had made about their care including their likes, dislikes and personal preferences.

“Staff were appropriately trained and confident to meet the basic needs of people they cared for. But they did not have access to additional training specific to the needs of people using the service, such as palliative care, dementia awareness and falls management.”

Inspectors did state, however, that they observed staff delivering care which met people’s individual needs and which supported them in a respectful way.

The CQC report for Ivonbrook Care Home states that at the time of inspection there was no CQC-registered manager in place.

It reads: “People were not protected against the risks of receiving unsafe care and care was not planned or delivered to meet people’s individual needs. Medicines were not safely managed.

“There were sufficient numbers of staff on duty but they did not all have the skills, knowledge experience to support people’s needs well.”

CQC guidance states that inadequate service providers are expected to improve within six months to avoid being struck off.

Matlock Mercury approached both care providers but both declined to comment.

To view the reports visit http://www.cqc.org.uk/.