Action taken to protect people at Lancashire care home

A care home in Poulton-le-Fylde has been put in special measures over "significant shortfalls with how the home was being managed".

The Care Quality Commission inspected Abode in April, following up on concerns about safety.

Abode, run by Abode Healthcare Ltd, provides personal care for up to 22 older people, younger adults and people living with a dementia.

"expect to see rapid improvements"

Linda Hirst, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said: “Leaders hadn’t created a home environment that kept people safe from harm.

"For example; flooring wasn’t always even which posed a trip hazard and some areas of the home required deep cleaning.

"Our inspectors also found missing and broken restrictors to prevent people from falling out of windows.

“Staff didn’t always support people to move safely throughout the home. We saw someone who required a mobility aid using window ledges and someone else’s wheelchair to move around putting them at risk of falling. Staff saw this but didn’t intervene.

“Although people always had enough to eat and drink, we weren’t assured about the safety and quality of food being provided as we found several out-of-date items in the kitchen.

"Additionally, people’s dietary requirements weren’t always followed or recorded accurately.

“We have told leaders where we expect to see rapid improvements and will continue to monitor the home closely to keep people safe while this happens."

Three notices warned it to make "significant improvements" around the safe care and treatment of residents, its management and the safety of the premises and its equipment.

Inspectors found:

• Staff didn’t always complete people’s records accurately or appropriately and some lacked detail about people’s specific needs
• Staff didn’t safely manage medication, including controlled drugs, and there were discrepancies in people’s medicines records putting them at risk
• Staff didn’t always follow infection prevention practices to keep people safe from infection
• Residents gave mixed feedback to CQC about making choices. Some said they got to make choices around what time they went to bed and got up, others explained they didn’t get choices in relation to their food preferences and activities
• Staff flagged concerns relating to activities and the need to offer more to people to aid their wellbeing
• The service was supporting people living with a learning disability, but they do not have appropriate registration in place to do this

However:

• People’s bedrooms were personalised with their chosen items such as photos and belongings important to them
• People’s relatives fed back that there was an open dialogue of communication with managers and staff
• Leaders supported people’s families sensitively and with compassion when a loved one passed away

We have contacted Abode Poulton for a response.

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