People want more consistency from Polegate care home rated as ‘requires improvement’

Care homes are judged on five categories - safety, effectiveness, care, responsiveness, and how well-led it is.

Polegate Care Home, in Black Path, was inspected in December and the report was released on January 6. It provides nursing and personal care for up to 44 people and there was 25 people living at the home at the time of the inspection, the report says. The home was rated as ‘good’ for all categories other than how well-led it was, which got a ‘requires improvement’ rating. This resulted in an overall rating of ‘requires improvement’.

The report said there was a shortage of permanent staff meaning agency staff were being used. As a result, new staff hadn’t read care plans, were relying on verbal information sharing, and weren’t always supported by experienced staff members. The manager left in July 2022 and a ‘turnaround’ manager has been in place until a new one is recruited. A new manager is due to start this month (January 2023).

Although care plans and risk assessments were in place, daily records weren’t maintained appropriately according to the report. This meant care given wasn’t always being documented, and staff weren’t aware which daily charts should be completed for people.

Consistency was something visitors wanted more of. The report says: “Visitors to the home gave mixed feedback and everyone was aware that there had been a number of staff

changes. People told us they wanted more consistency. The provider and manager were working hard to recruit new staff including recruitment from abroad.”

Staff were praised on administering medicines and protecting people from abuse, with safeguarding discussed in group supervision sessions. Quality assurance checks had been completed including a programme of auditing which incorporated all aspects of care delivery and services.

The report says: “Infection control procedures were being followed and the home was clean and tidy. Staff and management were aware of any actions to follow in the event of any outbreaks of Covid-19.

“People were able to provide feedback about the way they received their care. Resident and relatives' meetings had been scheduled and staff received group supervisions. Staff told us meetings were a helpful way of communicating any changes. All feedback was being used to implement positive changes to improve the home.”

A spokesperson for the home said: "The health, safety and wellbeing of all our residents and colleagues remain our top priorities.

"We are pleased the CQC's report notes that the care home is rated as 'good' in four out of five key areas of inspection, with the CQC having recognised the high standards of safety, effectiveness, care and responsiveness we provide to the community we serve.

"We also take onboard any feedback from our regulator to help us further improve, and we note the CQC's points around improvements to be made to the home's leadership.

"Since inspectors visited the home in December, we can confirm an improvement plan has already commenced to ensure the home is fully operating at the high standards our residents rightly expect and deserve.”

View the full report here

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