This unannounced inspection was carried out on 29 January 2016. Tadworth Grove Residential and Nursing Home provides residential care for people living with dementia in Pine unit and nursing care in Willow unit. It is registered to accommodate up to 71 people. On the day of our inspection 48 people lived at the service. The accommodation is arranged over three floors that included people with nursing needs on Willow and people who lived with dementia on Pine unit. There was a registered manager in place who was present on the day of the inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. We were also assisted by the regional manager.
The last inspection of this service was on the 15 July 2015 where we found breaches around the safety of people who lived at the service. People’s call bells were not being answered quickly and we were able to access the building without staff being aware that we were there. We found on this inspection that there were still concerns around people’s safety. We found on the inspection on the 15 July 2015 that people were not always treated with dignity and respect. This was still a concern on this inspection.
There were not always enough staff deployed in the service to consistently meet people’s needs. People were left on their own for long periods of time without the support of staff. There were times where there were less than the required staff needed to care for people safely. Risk assessments for people were not always followed by staff. Incidents and accidents were not always recorded and there was not always evidence of any learning from that had occurred to reduce the risk of falls and incidents in the service.
Medicines were not always being safely stored and there was a risk that people did not receive their medicines when they needed them. Medicines Administration Records (MARs) for people were signed for appropriately and all medicines were disposed of safely by staff.
Staff had good knowledge of safeguarding adults procedures and what to do if they suspected any type of abuse. There were clear policies in place to guide staff should they have any concerns.
Before staff started work appropriate recruitment checks had been undertaken.
Staff at the service were not always caring and did not always treat people with dignity. There were times where people were ignored for periods of time throughout the day and people’s dignity was not always maintained. We did see times when staff were caring and considerate to people. People were not always consulted about the care they wanted.
People’s rights were not always met under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). These safeguards protect the rights of people by ensuring if there are any restrictions to their freedom and liberty, these have been authorised by the local authority as being required to protect them from harm. Assessments had not always been completed specific to the decision that needed to be made around people’s capacity. DoLS applications had been submitted to the local authority but we were unable to see what this related to.
People were not always receiving care from staff who had received appropriate training. There was a risk that people were receiving care from staff who were not up to date with their clinical training, including wound care and end of life care.
Staff competencies were not always assessed with staff as they did not always have regular supervision with their manager. However some staff did have regular supervisions and found these useful.
The environment did not always meet the needs of the people, particularly those who were living with dementia.
People’s preferences were not consistently being sought by staff. The service was not always responsive to people’s needs. There was information missing in people’s care plans around the support they needed. There was a lack of detail around care for people living with dementia, care for people with diabetes and wound care.
Communication was not always shared with staff about changes in people’s needs which put people at risk.
There were not enough meaningful activities on offer specific to the needs of people living at the service. There were long periods of time where people had no meaningful engagement with staff, particularly people who lived with dementia. Other people told us that they enjoyed the activities in the service.
Relatives felt that the management was ineffective. There was not always consistent and obvious leadership in the service. Not all staff received annual appraisals to discuss their performance or training and development needs and some staff told us they didn’t feel valued. However some staff told us that the registered manager was approachable and supportive.
There were not effective systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service. Audits and surveys had been undertaken with people but had not always been used to improve the quality of care for people. Records were not always completed accurately and were not always complete. Services that provide health and social care to people are required to inform the Care Quality Commission (CQC) of important events that happen in the service. The registered manager had not informed the CQC of significant events in a timely way.
In the event of an emergency, such as the building being flooded or a fire, there was a service contingency plan which detailed what staff needed to do to protect people and make them safe.
Although people had access to a range of health care professionals guidance provided was not always followed by staff.
There was a complaints procedure in place for people to access however complaints were not appropriately responded to.
We found a number of breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘Special measures’.
Services in special measures will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider’s registration of the service, will be inspected again within six months. The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this time frame. If not enough improvement is made
within this timeframe so that there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve.
This service will continue to be kept under review and, if needed, could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement so there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action to prevent the provider from operating this service.
This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration. For adult social care services the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures