Norfolk care home rated inadequate and placed into special measures
Inspectors deemed that Church Farm Care Home was not safe, effective, caring, responsive or well-led
A care home in Norfolk has been rated inadequate and placed into special measures, following a report from the Care Quality Commission.
Inspectors deemed that Church Farm Care Home, run by Hewitt-Hill Limited, in Hemsby, Great Yarmouth was not safe, effective, caring, responsive or well-led.
The care home provides support to up to 40 people aged 65 years and over, most living with dementia.
What else was said in the report?
• Inspectors requested support for the home from the local authority’s quality assurance team and their medicine optimisation team due to the serious concerns they found around medicines management.
• Inspectors also made referrals to the local authority’s safeguarding team, due to the level of risk and concern identified during this inspection.
• Incidents weren't always reported to CQC in line with the provider’s regulatory requirements.
• The care home is not a well-maintained care environment with damaged surfaces and furniture, making it hard to clean.
• There are issues with medicines management. People didn't always receive their medicines on time or in a safe way and stock levels weren't monitored meaning things like pain relief might not be available when people needed it.
They also weren’t being stored safely; they were in unlocked cabinets in communal areas where anybody could access them without staff present.
• People’s care wasn’t personalised to their specific health needs. That included preventing falls from happening where it was a known risk, monitoring people’s bowel movements and taking care of their mental health.
• The quality of information shared between staff at their shift handover meetings was poor. The level of information didn't cover individual risks.
However:
• People were able to receive visitors without restrictions which is in line with best practice guidance and good for people’s well-being.
"Extremely worrying"
Gill Hodgson-Reilly, CQC deputy director of operations in the east of England, said:
“When we visited Church Farm Care Home, it was extremely worrying to find that the care home was rated inadequate across all five key areas of our inspection. We had serious concerns around the safety and wellbeing of people living there.
“It was clear to us that the service wasn’t well-led. The new provider hadn’t conducted thorough reviews and assessments when they took over the service, so weren’t aware of the areas where improvements needed to be made. This poor leadership was behind most of the issues we found.
“The service wasn’t meeting people’s basic needs in areas like making sure they eat and drink enough. We looked at food records and found some people hadn’t eaten anything for 24 hours and one person hadn't eaten anything for three days. This is unacceptable and we made referrals to the local safeguarding team and told leaders at the time of the inspection to address this immediately.
“People's privacy and dignity wasn’t always respected. For example when people were being moved with special equipment in areas where others could see, their personal care items to control bowel movements were kept in hallway and in plain view in people's rooms. Staff also failed to respond quickly to people’s requests for assistance with using the toilet, which is undignified and can be very distressing for people.
“There was a risk of a closed culture developing in this service because leaders hadn’t created an environment where staff or people using the service were being listened to. Staff had low morale and didn’t feel confident that they could report concerns. Many staff members were visibly upset during our discussions.
“We were also incredibly concerned about how the home were managing medicines and safeguarding and made referrals to external agencies to keep people safe.
“We have taken enforcement action against the provider to focus their attention on the areas where we want to see immediate and widespread improvements. We’ve put the home in special measures to keep people safe while these improvements are being made. If sufficient progress hasn’t been made, we will not hesitate to take further action to ensure people’s safety and wellbeing.”
"We are disappointed with the outcome"
A spokesperson for Church Farm Care Home said:
"Church Farm Care Home was purchased by Hewitt-Hill Limited in July 2023 and the CQC inspected the home on 31 October and 2 November 2023, just three months after the acquisition took place.
"We were aware of the requirement to make improvements at the home and were in the process of addressing relevant areas when the CQC inspected.
"The issues raised by the CQC related to inherited shortfalls in practices and unfortunately the inspection took place before we had the opportunity to fully review, implement and embed necessary improvements.
"We are disappointed with the outcome of the latest CQC inspection, particularly as the CQC has failed to take into account the home’s programme of improvement, has failed to report on the positive changes that have taken place and has not allowed sufficient time for planned improvements to be fully implemented and embedded.
"The CQC’s statement that a service user hadn’t eaten for three days is strongly refuted.
"While it is recognised there was a lack of recording of food intake at the time, this is simply a recording error and does not reflect the actual care provided to the resident.
"The CQC has drawn inaccurate and unfair conclusions without corroborating its evidence appropriately.The CQC raised the matter as a safeguarding alert which was investigated by the local authority and has since been closed.
"The local authority has acknowledged it was a documentation issue which has since been rectified and recognised the proactive approach taken by the home in response.
"It has been over 2 months since the CQC inspection took place and we have continued to progress improvements during this time. Most notably, a new experienced manager has been appointed who is committed to furthering the action plan and addressing historic shortfalls at the home.
"Additionally, further improvements have been made in relation to medication management, care planning, staff training, staff morale and the home’s physical environment. As such, the report does not provide a true reflection of the current service provided at Church Farm Care Home.
"The health, safety and welfare of our residents is out upmost priority. We are committed to providing a good quality service to our residents and continue to make planned improvements to ensure this is maintained at all times.
"We have engaged the services of an external care consultant to assist with the improvement process and have shared our action plan with the CQC."