Archived: Ingwood Nursing Home

Updated 11 February 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

We inspected Ingwood Nursing Home on 19 and 20 November 2015 and the visit was unannounced. Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the home. This included information from the provider and the local authority contracts and safeguarding teams. On this occasion we did not ask the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

Our last inspection of this service took place on 23 July 2014. At that time the service was found to be compliant with regulations and was given a rating of 'Good'. Since that inspection the registered manager has left the home and the provider took the decision to cease the provision of nursing care at the home.

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and an expert by experience with experience in older people and older people living with dementia. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

On the day of our inspection we spoke with seven people who lived at Ingwood Nursing Home and four people who were visiting their relatives. We also spoke with three members of care staff, the domestic, and the manager who had worked at the service for a short time and two area managers.

Some of the people we spoke with had complex care needs and were not able to express their views to us. We therefore spent time observing care in the dining room and lounge to help us understand the experience of all of the people living at the home.

Updated 11 February 2016

This inspection of Ingwood Nursing Home took place on 19 November 2015. The home provides residential care for up to 34 people with bedrooms set over two floors. Communal areas include a large dining room and three small lounges. At the time of our inspection there were 10 people living at the home.

Our last inspection of Ingwood Nursing Home took place on 23 July 2014. At that time the service was found to be compliant with regulations and was given a rating of 'Good.' Since that inspection the provider took the decision to cease the provision of nursing care at the service. This meant that people living at the home who required nursing care went to live at other services. Nursing staff, including the registered manager, were transferred to another of the provider's services. The service is referred to in this report as Ingwood Nursing Home as the provider has not informed the Commission of change of name for the service.

The previous registered manager of Ingwood Nursing Home deregistered with the Commission in January 2015. 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.

There was no manager in place at the home and staff did not know who was in charge. There was a lack of regular quality auditing by senior management.

People who lived at the home told us they felt safe and staff had a good understanding of their responsibilities in keeping people safe. However, staff were unfamiliar with how to report safeguarding concerns. Accidents that happened in the home were not audited which meant staff were not doing everything possible to mitigate risks to people who lived at the home.

Systems for managing medicines were not safe. Staff who had not been adequately trained or assessed as competent were supporting people with their medicines.

Staffing was adequate but better deployment of care staff, including the arrangements for the use of agency staff, was needed to make sure staff were always available to respond to people.

We recommended the provider considers the deployment of staff to make sure care staff are not taken away from supporting people living at the home.

Procedures for recruitment of new staff were safe with thorough checks always completed before staff started work to make sure they were safe and suitable to work in the care sector.

Staff had not received the training they needed to support them in their roles.

Staff were caring and people we spoke with were complimentary about the staff.

Food provided at the home was of a good standard but mealtimes were not managed well and staff had failed to make sure that all of the people who lived at the home received the nutrition they needed to maintain their health.

Risk assessments were misleading and out of date.

Care plans did not demonstrate a person centred approach to care and were not up to date.

We saw people engaging in activities which they enjoyed although the working hours of the activities coordinator restricted the opportunity for planned activity.

People were restricted in their movements within the home. A series of key pad locks meant that people could not always access two of the lounges and bedrooms.

Complaints made to the service were not managed in line with the complaints policy.

Systems for auditing the quality and safety of care were in place but were not up to date.

The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘Special Measures’.

This means that usually the service will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider’s registration of the service, would be inspected again within six months.

However in this instance the provider took the decision to cease residential care provision at this service and Ingwood Nursing Home is now closed. The provider is in the process of applying to the Care Quality Commission to deregistered this service. In view of this the Commission took the decision not to take enforcement action against the provider in relation to Ingwood Nursing Home.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.