Archived: Rossendale Nursing Home

Updated 16 June 2021

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspection managers on the first day and one inspector and a specialist professional advisor in medicines management on the second day. One inspector worked remotely, reviewing care records.

Service and service type

Rossendale Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had two managers registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. One of the registered managers was also the provider. The other registered manager had left their post at the time of the inspection.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced on the first day. The second day of the inspection was announced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with eight members of staff including the provider, clinical lead, care workers, domestic staff. We carried out observations in communal areas to see how staff interacted with people and checked the premises to ensure they were clean, hygienic and a safe place for people to live.

We reviewed a range of records. This included multiple people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records related to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at policies and procedures, insurance details and asked the provider for details about people’s care needs.

Updated 16 June 2021

About the service

Rossendale Nursing Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 18 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 21 people in premises made from two adapted town-houses close to the centre of St Annes.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were at risk of harm because the provider had not ensured risks were assessed and managed effectively. Medicines were not managed safely and properly. We found some shortfalls in relation to infection prevention and control. There were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet people’s needs, but the service relied heavily on agency staff, which impacted the consistency of care for people living at the home. We have made a recommendation about ensuring recruitment records are retained in line with legal requirements.

The provider has repeatedly failed to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service. This left people at risk of avoidable harm.

We saw some positive interactions between staff and people who lived at the home. Staff spoke positively about their work and the support they received from the registered manager.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 23 December 2020). The service was rated requires improvement for the last three consecutive inspections.

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection enough improvement had not been made and the provider was still in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about pressure area care, medicines management, safeguarding concerns, falls and risks related to the management of swallowing difficulties. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. As a result, we carried out a focussed inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to inadequate. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

Since the inspection, the risk has been mitigated because commissioners terminated their contract with the service. All service users were moved to alternative placements and no one is currently living at the home.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Rossendale Nursing Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We have identified breaches in relation to medicines management, management of risk, recruitment processes and good governance.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.