Shrewsbury care home told to improve

Montgomery House on Sundorne Road in Shrewsbury welcomed the first residents to its purpose built £8million pound development 10 months ago.

But when inspectors from the Care Quality Commission visited the 90-bed home, which is managed by Coverage Care Services,in June they found that it needed to improve on every level.

They reported that staffing levels were not at a required standard, systems for assessing the quality of the service were not consistently used, and the provider did not always ensure that lessons were learnt and improvements made.

The safety of the home was found to be requiring improvement. Inspectors found that there had been a number of occasions when the required numbers of staff on shift had not been reached.

Residents and their families who were questioned said they were, on the whole, happy with the service and care provided at the home, which looks after the elderly, some of whom are suffering from dementia.

But a staff member said: "It is not as easy to give everyone the care they need with less staff on."

Another added: "Relatives visit for an hour and that's all they see. The don't see it when people get upset and disturbed and it's difficult to cope when you are stretched."

The effectiveness of the service was also called into question. The inspectors heard how residents were put in chairs with the radio or TV on and not asked what they wanted.

While staff were described as kind and caring, the inspectors found the level of care across the home was unequal.

A person said they had certain activities they like to do but their ideas 'fell on deaf ears' with the management.

A visitor said: "There is nothing to keep them occupied, no activities. I think they need something to stimulate them."

In its brochure, the care home says it has an onsite hairdressing salon, regular gardening clubs and a library as well as art workshops.

The service was also found to be needing to improve in its leadership. Audit plans were not consistently carried out and complaints were not dealt with speedily.

Residents' meetings were yet to be arranged and staff said that the management was not always supportive and did not listen to what they had to say.

Coverage Care has a second home in Shrewsbury - Coton Hill House. Last year, the home, in Berwick Road, was fined £50,000 in September when a 78-year-old resident died after going without medication for a month.

David Coull, chief executive of Coverage Care Services, said: “We are extremely proud of the progress made at Montgomery House in the short time it has been open and delighted by the many very positive comments made to the inspectors by people who use the service and their visitors. A new home is a complex environment and will take some time to fine tune into being precisely the home-from- home we strive for it to be, but there is no doubt that residents are safe and cared for and our staff are doing a tremendous job.

“We are confident that anyone who reads the full CQC report will understand that very clearly. As a not-for- profit care provider, investment in continuous improvement is at the very heart of Coverage Care’s ethos. We take all of the feedback from this inspection very seriously and are already responding to the areas highlighted to continue the development of this wonderful, modern care setting.”