Care home slammed by inspectors
A FAILING Hucknall care home for elderly people has been told it must improve after it was slammed by inspectors.
A damning report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) states that nine of the 17 residents at Silverdale, on Nottingham Road, had unexplained bruising in the five weeks before an inspection.
During four visits by the inspectors in November, they found that residents’ ‘personal privacy, dignity and independence were not always respected’.
As a result the CQC has ordered the home to take action on each of nine areas to meet government standards.
Inspectors say Silverdale must do more to respect residents, care for people safely and protect them from harm. The standards of staffing and management also came in for criticism.
Notts County Council stopped sending people to the home on November 7 and has helped five of the residents to move to new accommodation.
The inspectors’ report claimed that one resident had sustained bruising or scratches on ‘more than 14 occasions’ but nothing was done to find out how this happened.
Only 12 of the 27 staff had received training to support people with dementia, the report continued. It states: “One of the staff didn’t feel some of her colleagues were working with the right equipment to move people around the home, and bruising could have been due to poor manual handling practices,”
During one meal at the home, a resident struggled to get food on his fork without staff giving him any assistance, the report went on. Some residents spilled food on their clothes but none of the staff helped them to change.
On November 6, the inspectors pointed out that the neither door of the communal toilets could be locked but nothing was done about it.
“One member of staff told us they did not feel the care some residents were receiving was good enough,” the report went on. “We were told the night staff got people up too early in the morning and didn’t always make sure personal hygiene was met appropriately.
“People were left to wear the same clothes for several days and one man was not always helped to shave.
“There was also a lack of information in respect of staff supporting people with complex medical conditions such as diabetes, dementia and nutritional needs and a lack of risk assessment in place to manage people’s challenging behaviour.”
The county council’s service director for personal care and support (older people), David Hamilton, said: “We have suspended our contract with the home, which means we will no longer allow new residents whom we fund to be placed at the home until the necessary improvements are made.
“We are working with the care home managers to help them resolve the concerns that we have and to ensure that the residents are safe and well cared for.”
Coun Kevin Rostance, a Hucknall Conservative member of the county council, said: We will be working closely with a representative of the CQC, which will enable us to achieve closer monitoring of homes.
“We are investing £225,000 with residential care providers to improve standards of staff training.”
Silverdale is owned by the company Roden Vine Nottingham.
A new manager appointed for Silverdale did not want to be named, but she said: “I was brought in after the inspection not just to improve the areas identified in the report but all areas of caring for the elderly residents.
“We have liaised with family members of residents to give information on how to improve the service we provide.
“I value the support of the county council and the CQC. My role is to raise standards at the home so that the residents are safe, well cared for and happy.”
The manager said there had been staff changes, with an increase in certain areas, and immediate training courses were being delivered for safe moving of residents.
She added that Silverddale hitherto had an excellent reputation and she wanted this to be restored as soon as possible.
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Weather for Hucknall
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
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