Telford nursing home put in 'special measures' wins admissions battle
A Telford nursing home placed under “special measures” has successfully fought off a move to restrict new admissions which would cause it “immense” financial damage.
Myford House Nursing Home in Woodlands Lane, Horsehay, was placed into special measures by the Care Quality Commission due to concerns about alleged “inadequacies” in areas such as leadership and medicine management.
A series of inspections were carried out at the home, with the most recent “comprehensive inspection” conducted by the Commission in August this year.
The inspection report concluded that Myford House still “required improvement”, and that special measures were necessary.
Later that month, the Commission decided to impose a condition on the home - barring new admissions without its consent.
The condition was applied as an “urgent measure to prevent any further admissions without written permission from the commission”.
Clarendon Care Group Ltd, which operates the home, appealed to the Care Standards Tribunal, insisting that the move was drastic and “disproportionate”.
The condition was far too wide-ranging, and was having “an immense impact" both on the home's finances and on the morale of its staff, it said.
After a hearing at Birmingham Civil Justice Centre earlier this month, Judge Maureen Roberts ruled in favour of Clarendon Care Group.
The commission's main concerns about the home focused on an alleged lack of “clear clinical leadership," said the judge.
There was also a specific worry about staff’s “lack of knowledge” concerning one patient’s state of health.
The home has capacity for 57 residents, but numbers had dwindled to only 32.
Clarendon Care Group pointed out that a new management team has recently taken over, and is “working hard to implement improvements”.
There was therefore “no risk to justify continuing the condition”, the company argued.
Judge Roberts said Clarendon Care Group’s witnesses “presented as committed and dedicated about the future of the home and the ongoing work needed”.
"They were honest and candid about the plan of achieving long-term change", she added.
The judge had "no doubt about the integrity of the Commission's inspectors."
But they appeared “reluctant to accept documents that evidenced that change and improvement were in progress, but would take a period of time to achieve."
The ban on new admissions to the home without the commission's consent was lifted.
