‘People were not protected from harm’ in Eastbourne care home, according to recent inspection

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

Grange House in Grange Road cares for up to 17 people with dementia and/or with a mental health disorder. From an inspection in September (report published November 2022) it was rated as ‘requires improvement’ for three categories - safety, effectiveness, and responsiveness. The care got a ‘good’ rating and the well-led category was rated as ‘inadequate’. The overall rating was ‘requires improvement’. It was this home’s first inspection as it registered with the CQC in October 2020.

The report says: “The service was not well-led. There was no effective governance system in place to meet the requirements of regulation. People, families and staff feedback had not been sought. The provider did not have oversight of the service and this had an impact on outcomes for peoples' safety and well-being and on the effectiveness and responsiveness of the service.

“People were not protected from harm. Medicine procedures were not in line with best practice guidance, we found out of date medicines, medicines not labelled and medicines that were in the wrong boxes.”

If mistakes were made, nothing was done to prevent the same thing happening again. The report said staff didn’t have guidance on how to keep people safe from harm. These concerns resulted in people losing weight without it being monitored or managed.

Documentation was also a concern. The report said ‘care plans was not always in line with best practice guidance’ and documents weren’t all up to date or accurate. Complaint records were not available either, the report said.

Other problems raised were around the recruitment process, fire safety, and staff training. However, staff were praised for being kind and caring towards people, allowing them to have maximum choice and control over their lives. The home now needs to provide the CQC with an action plan to explain what they’ll do to improve standards.

A spokesperson for Grange House said the new provider took over in August 2021 and was faced with a ‘tremendous task of shaking up the prevailing practices and put in systems towards betterment’ and there was a ‘crying need’ for changes on all levels including management, leadership, and staffing.

She said: “These initiatives had to be implemented against a backdrop of excessive and overreliance of agency staff and the pandemic. And, as recognised by the report, the provider ensured that during this process of upgrading the place, gigantic steps were taken to ensure that the care quality provided to every service user reflected high standards.”

Being dependent on agency staff was a ‘real barrier’ for the provider to address the problems, the spokesperson said. On top of this, she said there was a national staffing crisis. She said management have made ‘very significant strides’ in moving away from agency staff.

The spokesperson said audits in a number of areas have taken place and with a cohort of external experts, a plan has been made to make improvements. She said there’s now a system in place and the most recent reports have signalled ‘significant improvements in every area highlighted’.

View the full report here

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