About the service The Old Vicarage is a nursing home providing personal and nursing care to up to 30 people. The service provides support to older people, people with physical disabilities and people with mental health needs including those with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 25 people using the service. The home is split over three separate floors and has two communal lounges and a dining space.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
There were shortfalls in the way the service was led by the provider. The delivery of high-quality care was not assured by the leadership, governance or policies in the service Audit systems failed to highlight the concerns we found during the inspection.
Risks to people were not always identified, assessed or managed effectively. We found documentation to guide staff on how to support people was either not in place or inconsistent, which placed people at risk of receiving unsafe care. Accurate and contemporaneous records were not completed of people’s daily care.
Medicines were not managed safely. People did not always receive their prescribed medicines and records in relation to medicines were not always completed in line with best practice guidance. Effective action had not been taken to address issues with medicines management.
People were not always referred to healthcare professionals when required. We saw people had lost weight within the service but no records of consultations with the dietician or GP. Healthcare advice was not always followed, meaning people were at risk of further health deterioration.
The provider had not ensured all staff were up to date with the training they needed to carry out their role effectively.
People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice.
Staff did not always answer call bells quickly, meaning people had to wait for their care and support needs to be met.
People, relatives and staff had opportunities to feedback and felt involved in the running of the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 22 June 2019).
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to moving and handling practice, staff training, inaccurate care records, infection prevention and control, staffing and the management of people’s nursing care needs. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only.
We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
The overall rating for the service has changed from good to inadequate based on the findings of this inspection.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective and well-led sections of this full report.
You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Old Vicarage on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement and Recommendations
We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.
We have identified breaches in relation to safety, governance, staff training and consent at this inspection.
Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.
Follow up
We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
Special Measures
The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘special measures’. This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration, we will re-inspect within 6 months to check for significant improvements.
If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe. And there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the 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.