A Walker care home has been slammed by inspectors who have highlighted failings in management which "impacted on all areas of the care" of the people living there.
The Ella McCambridge Care Home has been given a shock "inadequate" rating by the Care Quality Commission, with inspectors finding that staff didn't feel support by the home's management, records and risk assessments were not up-to-date, and training was not up to standard. The home has now been placed into special measures.
In response, Vanessa Cutler, operational director of Manor Care which runs the home, said the firm's senior leadership had "not been fully aware" of concerns over the home's old management until January this year. The CQC inspection also took place in the home - which cares for up to 67 people, some of whom have dementia - across January 12, January 14 and January 16 this year.
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Ms Cutler said the firm had "immediately acted" when the nature of the issues was revealed - and the CQC inspection team did highlight how changes in the home's leadership had "left staff and relatives feeling more confident in its future". Ms Cutler also highlighted how a new manager was in place, along with a "robust" plan to resolve the issues raised.
Alison Chilton, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said: "At the time of our inspection of Ella McCambridge Care Home, we found that the service wasn’t well-led, which was impacting on all areas of the care people who were living there received.
"Our experience tells us that when a service isn’t well-led, it is more unlikely they’re able to meet people’s needs in the other areas we inspect, which is what we found here. However, a recent change in leadership at the home has left staff and relatives feeling more confident in its future. The new leaders are focused on improving training and overall standards of care."
Ms Chilton said inspectors had found risk assessments and records "weren't up to date and didn't fully reflect people's needs", and "people weren’t supported to make their own choices, live in the least restrictive way possible or in their best interests". She said this was "unacceptable".
The inspection report highlights other issues with care at Ella McCambridge, including:
- The home hadn’t "fully assessed risks" which could impact on care and infection control
- There were gaps in people’s care records which meant inspectors could not be assured care had been carried out as planned.
- An effective system to ensure staff were suitably skilled and trained was not fully in place.
- Care plans did not fully reflect people’s needs
Vanessa Cutler, operational director at Manor Care, said a "robust action plan" was now in place and the a new manager at the home was being closely supported. She said: "They visited due to concerns from several anonymous complaints which we now believe to have been staff.
"Unfortunately myself and my operational manager had not been fully aware of the concerns with the previous management until January. We visited the home as had concerns regarding the management and immediately acted accordingly."
She added that they had, like the inspectors, discovered "failings in training and documentation" and that "staff hadn’t been listened to with their concerns and were refusing to work with the management team".
The director added: "We have now got a full dedicated staff team since we have intervened including new management who is heavily involved listen to residents and their needs. We are waiting for funding as we have found a company which has come highly recommended to change to digital so going forward documentation can’t be damaged or tampered with and the correct documentation implemented."
Ms Cutler also highlighted that there was now a "strict induction process" in place and staff training was up-to-date. She said work was also ongoing to ensure staff felt able to whistleblow and pass concerns to the firm's head office. She continued: "We are dedicated to our homes and this has been a huge shock to all the staff but also lessons learnt from everyone involved. We have had meeting with residents and their families and been open and honest about the last few months and had very good feedback."
A Newcastle City Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of the recent CQC rating for Ella McCambridge Care home which is privately run by Manor Care Home Group.
"We always want to ensure all residents get the best care possible and we have and continue to work closely with our safeguarding colleagues, the home and the CQC to ensure concerns are addressed and improvements are made."
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