Three Shropshire care homes must improve, says watchdog

The reports for Elmshurst Nursing Home, in Prees, near Whitchurch; River Meadows Nursing Home in Edgebolton, near Shawbury; and Lodge Lane in Bridgnorth have now been made public.

They are among nearly 50 care homes across the Midlands to be rated in the latest batch of inspection reports by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

All three have been given a "requires improvement" rating, one up from the worst possible "inadequate".

Two other establishments – Field House in Church Stretton and The Uplands at Oxon in Bicton Heath, Shrewsbury – were rated "good", the second highest rating behind "outstanding".

Inspection teams visited the homes between November last year and February 2015 and spoke to management, staff, residents and relatives as well as inspecting records.

At Elmshurst, inspectors claimed the management of medicines "did not always ensure people received their prescribed medicines". A resident told them there were "never enough staff at night" while a relative also claimed staffing appeared to be "stretched" on the evenings.

Claremont Care, which runs the home, said it did not wish to comment on the report.

At River Meadows, run by Springcare, one person told inspectors they did not feel safe because when they pressed the buzzer for help they were "not sure if anyone will come". People at the home said they often had to shout for help and one added: "The staff are rushed off their feet". Residents also faced long waits for meals because of staffing shortages, inspectors said.

And at Lodge Lane, run by Creative Support, inspectors ruled there were "not enough staff to keep people safe".

Lee Cox, managing director of Springcare, said: "Obviously we are disappointed with the results of the inspection as River Meadows has always received positive inspection findings in the past.

"Several measures have been put in place to ensure that River Meadows meets the Care Quality Commission's new fundamental standards, providing safe, responsive, effective, caring and well led care provision.

"The wellbeing of individuals living at River Meadows is paramount to the services we provide and the manager and staff have worked hard to rectify those areas identified for improvement. We feel confident that River Meadows is now meeting the required standards."

Creative Support was contacted for comment but had not responded by the time the Shropshire Star went to press.

Sue Howard, interim deputy chief inspector for adult social care in the region, said: "People are entitled to services which provide safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care. If that is what we find on inspection we give the service a rating of good, or outstanding.

"Where we find that services are not good enough, we will give a rating of requires improvement or inadequate. If we find that a service requires improvement, we will expect them to provide us with a full plan setting out how they will address the issue."

Of the 52 reports published this week, 31 were rated "good", 20 were deemed "requires improvement" while one was rated "inadequate".

Require improvement:

Elmshurst Nursing Home - Armoury Lane, Prees

River Meadows Nursing Home – Edgebolton, Shawbury

85 Lodge Lane - Bridgnorth

Good:

Field House Nursing Home – Church Stretton

The Uplands at Oxon – Bicton Heath, Shrewsbury

• Scroll down for further details on each premises

All three have been given a "requires improvement" rating, one up from the worst possible "inadequate".

Two other establishments - Field House in Church Stretton and The Uplands at Oxon in Bicton Heath, Shrewsbury - were rated "good", the second highest rating behind "outstanding".

Inspection teams visited the homes between November last year and February 2015 and spoke to management, staff, residents and relatives as well as inspecting records.

At Elmshurst, inspectors claimed the management of medicines "did not always ensure people received their prescribed medicines".

A resident told them there were "never enough staff at night" while a relative also claimed staffing appeared to be "stretched" on the evenings.

Claremont Care, which runs the home, said it did not wish to comment on the report.

At River Meadows, run by Springcare, one person told inspectors they did not feel safe because when they pressed the buzzer for help they were "not sure if anyone will come".

People at the home said they often had to shout for help and one added: "The staff are rushed off their feet".

Residents also faced long waits for meals because of staffing shortages, inspectors said.

And at Lodge Lane, run by Creative Support, inspectors ruled there were "not enough staff to keep people safe".

Both Springcare and Creative Support were contacted for comment but had not responded by the time the Shropshire Star went to press.

Under CQC's new programme of inspections, all of England's adult social care services are being given a rating according to whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

Sue Howard, interim deputy chief inspector for adult social care in the region, said: "People are entitled to services which provide safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care.

"If that is what we find on inspection – we give the service a rating of good, or outstanding.

"Where we find that services are not good enough, we will give a rating of requires improvement or inadequate.

"If we find that a service requires improvement, we will expect them to provide us with a full plan setting out how they will address the issue. "We will share our findings with local commissioners, and we will return in due course to check that the required improvements have been made."

Of the 52 reports published this week, 31 were rated "good", 20 were deemed "requires improvement" while one was rated "inadequate".

What the Care Quality Commision has said:

Require improvement:

Elmshurst Nursing Home – Claremont Care. Armoury Lane, Prees. Provides accommodation, personal and nursing care for up to 45 older people and people living with dementia. There were 31 people living at the home during the inspection.

Inspectors said: "We found that the management of medicines did not always ensure people received their prescribed medicines.

"A medication administration record showed that a person had been given their medicines. However, this medicine was still contained in the blister pack. These practices placed people's health at risk."

Inspectors criticised staffing levels but did rule the service was "caring", saying people were looked after in a "dignified" manner.

River Meadows Nursing Home – Springcare (River Meadows) Ltd. Edgebolton, Shawbury.

Provides accommodation, nursing and personal care for 44 older people and young adults. Inspectors watched staff treat people with "kindness and compassion" and a resident said staff "do anything to help".

But others told inspectors they did not always feel safe because there were not enough staff to care for them. "We saw people waiting a long time to be assisted with their meal," the report said.

"People were not provided with the appropriate support to eat and drink.

"One care staff member told us that there were a lot of people who required support with their meals."

85 Lodge Lane, Bridgnorth – Creative Support Ltd.

Provides accommodation and personal care for people who have a learning disability.

During a previous inspection in June last year, officials said there were not enough staff to meet needs and received assurances staffing levels would be increased.

On their return in January, inspectors said: "We found that the staffing levels had not been increased and there were not enough staff provided to keep people safe.

"The acting manager and service manager told us that three care staff should be provided on each shift. On the days of our inspection there were two care staff."

The report also said keys to the medicine cabinet were not kept securely.

Good:

Field House Nursing Home – Barchester. Sandford Avenue, Church Stretton.

Provides accommodation for up to 20 older people who may need support with their personal care.

Inspectors said people told them they felt safe living in the home and believed staff would do "everything necessary" to keep them safe.

"People told us they were very well cared for and spoke highly of the kindness and attention of the registered manager and staff in the home," the report said.

"Staff knew people well and used their knowledge of people's families and life histories to engage with them."

Only one formal complaint had been made in the previous 12 months, the report said, adding it was "resolved quickly".

The Uplands at Oxon – Marches Care. Clayton Way, Bicton Heath, Shrewsbury.

Provides accommodation, personal and nursing care for older people and people living with dementia up to a maximum of 81.

People were quick to tell inspectors they felt safe living in the home, while one added: "There are plenty of staff here".

The report said: "Staff told us that there were enough staff on duty to care for people. We saw that staff were nearby to assist people when needed and that call bells were responded to quickly."

Inspectors said they observed staff treating residents with "kindness and compassion".

One said to them: "Staff are kind, caring and fantastic".

Staff described management as "fantastic".