Telford care home out of special measures but must do more
A care home has come out of special measures but still needs to make improvements, health inspectors say.
St George's Park in Telford “requires improvement” according to the Care Quality Commission but has now been rated “good” for providing a safe, effective and caring service.
The care home was placed in special measures following an inspection in October 2016 when it was rated “inadequate”.
Bosses were warned the care home could face closure if it did not get back up to scratch. A re-inspection took place in May and the results have now been made public in a new report.
At the inspection in 2016 it was rated “inadequate” in all five categories, including whether the service was safe, well-led, effective, caring and responsive.
It has now been rated “good” in how safe, effective and caring it is, but “requires improvement” in the other two categories. Its overall grade is “requires improvement”.
The report said: “Services that are in special measures are kept under review and inspected again within six months.
“We expect services to make significant improvements within this timeframe.
“During this inspection the service demonstrated to us that improvements have been made and is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions.
“Therefore, this service is now out of special measures.”
Inspectors said the care home had made improvements but more needed to be done.
The report continued: “Quality checks were in place and had identified areas for improvement but these had not been fully delivered at the time of the inspection.
“There were improvements required in peoples experience at meal times, the delivery of person centred care, and the provision of activities required further improvements.”
Inspectors said that people received the care and support they needed but staff did not always demonstrate a good understanding of people’s preferences or personal histories.
The report also highlighted that people did not always have access to leisure opportunities of their choice or meaningful activities. However, inspectors said people told them that they felt safe living at the care home, staff were trained and were kind and caring.
The care home’s recruitment practices keep people safe and there are sufficient staff numbers, according to the report.
Medicines were also said to be stored appropriately.
The home, in School Street, St Georges, is managed by Rotherwood Healthcare.
It provides care for up to 70 older people with dementia and nursing needs.
Rotherwood Healthcare was unavailable to comment.
