Ramsey care home The Red House declared inadequate overall by health regulator and placed in ‘special measures’

A care home has been found to be inadequate overall with residents not protected from harm and procedures for medicines declared ‘not safe’ following a month-long inspection by health regulators.

Now The Red House Care Home, in Bury Road, Ramsey, has been placed in ‘special measures’ and will be kept under review by officials of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for six months to ensure it makes substantial improvements.

If services fail to get better, the provider, healthcare company HC-One, has been warned it could be prevented from operating the service.

A spokesperson for HC-One, which runs the home along with about 300 others nationally, said staff acknowledged they had fallen short of the high standards expected and deserved by residents.

The inspection, which was carried out by a team of two inspectors, a medicines specialist and an Expert by Experience, who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service, began on August 3 this year and was completed by September 5.

The home, which had 47 residents, was found by CQC officials to be inadequate as a safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led service as well as being inadequate overall.

In its report, the CQC states: “There were not enough staff to meet people's needs.

“People were not protected from harm and lessons were not learnt when things went wrong.

It states: “Risks to people's safety were not appropriately assessed or reduced by staff, and oversight was not effective.

“Medicines processes were not safe, and staff failed to appropriately respond when a person displayed symptoms of an infection.”

“People were at risk from dehydration and malnourishment.

“People experienced weight loss which was not effectively recognised and responded to by staff.

“People’s needs had not been appropriately assessed and agreed health plans were not always followed.

“Staff had not received effective training to keep people safe, and staff supervision methods were not effective.

It also adds: “People were not always treated with dignity and respect by staff.

“Kind and considerate care was not always evident.

The report also states that the service was not well-led.

It goes on: “The provider did not operate safe and effective governance systems which meant people were at risk of harm.

“The provider did not respond to their own quality assurance findings to promote safety and improve care.”

And it states: “People, or their relatives if appropriate, were not always supported to be involved in the care planning process.

"Care plans were not developed for people living with dementia.

"Responsive care planning did not take place for people who experienced deterioration.

“Social opportunities, engagement and activities were not regularly available for people who remained in their bedrooms."

However, the report also adds that: “People told us they were supported with their medicines and received pain relief when it was required.

" People said they were happy with the quality of the meals which were provided and told us staff were friendly and kind to them.”

WHAT PROMPTED THE INSPECTION?

The inspectors say the investigation was triggered in part due to concerns about safe care and treatment; safeguarding, staffing,

nutrition and hydration, person-centred care, privacy and dignity and good governance.

They state: “We had undertaken an inspection at another of the provider's locations and found these breaches of regulations were present.

“Furthermore, we had received concerns that common themes may be present at this location.

"A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.”

The inspectors also point out that in 2019 a CQC inspection at the Red House Care Home had rated it as ‘good’.

WHAT DOES THE CARE HOME OPERATOR SAY?

A spokesperson for The Red House said: “Making sure we deliver high quality kind care for our residents is our utmost priority, and we are therefore deeply disappointed by the CQC’s most recent assessment of The Red House.

“We acknowledge that, as a result of the specific challenges we have experienced in the Cambridgeshire area for some time, we have very sadly fallen short of the high standards our residents expect and deserve at this home.

“With the support of the Council and CQC, and in line with the comprehensive action plan in place, we are continuing to work hard to overcome these and win back the trust of our Residents and the wider community.

The spokesperson added: “We have a new and highly experienced Regional Management team in place, who are working directly with frontline colleagues in The Red House to review the home’s performance and carry out stringent checks to monitor progress against our action plan.

“All our colleagues have received further training, particularly in medicine management and effective care record keeping.

“To bolster our team and ensure the action plan for the home is fully embedded and carried out over the long term, our new Regional Management team is actively recruiting for additional leadership roles.

“Whilst we understand that this resolution comes too late to change the historic experiences of our residents at The Red House, we are fully committed to delivering substantial improvements within the six-month time frame stipulated by the CQC.

“Delivering kind and high-quality care remains our primary priority and we are committed to dedicating the time, senior oversight and resource needed to make sure we are getting care right for every resident and their loved ones.”