Archived: Hendford Care Home with Nursing

Updated 16 September 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 had met the requirements of the warning notice issued on 19 April 2016 and was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008: Staffing. Other breaches were identified which will be inspected at a later date during a comprehensive inspection.

This inspection took place on 29 June 2016 and was unannounced. It was carried out by two adult social care inspectors. This was a focussed inspection to look at the area where the home had been found in breach of regulations. We had issued the warning notice to the home because when we last inspected on 19 April 2016 the staffing situation was unsafe and needed to be improved very quickly. We found other breached regulations which will be inspected at a later date. We focussed on the safe domain but did not inspect against every key line of enquiry therefore the rating awarded from the last inspection remains unchanged until the next comprehensive inspection. Details of other regulations breached and the action we asked the provider to take can be seen in the last inspection report for 19 April 2016.

Before our inspection we reviewed all of the information we held about the home, including the provider’s action plan following the last inspection and notifications of incidents that the provider had sent us. During the inspection spoke with ten people and observed the care of others. We spoke with six members of staff and the two temporary managers of the home. We observed care and support in communal areas, spoke with some people in private and looked at the staff rotas and induction records.

Updated 16 September 2016

This inspection was unannounced and took place on 29 June 2016 by two adult social care inspectors.

Hendford Care Home with Nursing is registered to provide accommodation and nursing care for up to 41 people. The home is organised into three units. On the ground floor is Greenwood providing support for people with dementia. On the first floor Silver Birch is mainly for people requiring nursing care. On the top floor is Pine View. People with residential needs and those requiring respite are usually, although not exclusively offered a room on Pine View.

Since the last inspection Pine View had been closed and three people had been accommodated on Silver Birch. This had improved staff management and people had agreed to move however they preferred to live in rooms they had originally chosen and were hoping to return as soon as possible. At the time of this inspection there were 21 people living at the home.

The previous inspection of the home was carried out on the 19th April 2016. The service was rated as Inadequate .We found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

The overall rating for this service is 'Inadequate' and the service is therefore in 'Special measures'. Services in special measures will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider's registration of the service, will be receive a comprehensive inspection again within six months.

The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this timeframe. If not enough improvement is made within this timeframe so that there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve.

At the last inspection there was a breach of Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 Staffing because there were not sufficient staff on duty to meet each person's needs safely. New staff had not received any induction into working the home. We issued a warning notice requiring the provider to take action by 16 June 2016.

This inspection was a focussed inspection to check if the breach of this regulations had been met. We therefore did not look at all lines of enquiry within this domain. This means we are unable to change the rating until the next comprehensive inspection.

During this inspection, we found significant improvements had been made to the staffing arrangements. Additional staff had been recruited. A clinical lead nurse was in post and one new nurse had been recruited. Despite these recent recruits agency nurses were still being employed to cover some night and day shifts. Staff agreed there were still some vacancies but the situation was improving.

At the last inspection there was no thorough induction programme in place to ensure staff had the skills to care for people safely and were orientated into the ways of working in the home. At this inspection there was evidence two new staff had completed a structured induction.