The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Hunningley Grange Residential Home in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, inadequate and placed the home into special measures to protect people, following an inspection in November.
Hunningley Grange Residential Home provides personal care to older adults, some of whom are living with dementia.
This inspection was carried out to follow up on concerns raised at the previous inspection. Inspectors only looked at the areas of safe and well-led in response to these specific concerns.
Following this inspection, the overall rating for the home, as well as the areas of safe and well-led, have moved down from requires improvement to inadequate. The areas of caring and effective remain good, and responsive remains requires improvement from their previous inspection.
The service has been placed in special measures which means it will be kept under close review by CQC to keep people safe and it will be monitored to check sufficient improvements have been made. CQC issued two warning notices following the inspection to focus the provider’s attention on making significant improvements around safe care and treatment and notifying CQC of incidents.
Alan Stephenson, CQC interim deputy director of operations in the north, said:
When we inspected Hunningley Grange Residential Home, concerns we raised around people’s safety, at our previous inspection still hadn’t been addressed. It was also worrying that we found further issues regarding staffing, risk management and the home’s environment. A new manager was in post and working on improvements, but it was too early to see any real progress.
It was disappointing to see little engagement or conservation between staff and people. The home’s leaders didn’t provide stimulation, activities and community engagement to aid people’s wellbeing and give them a sense of purpose.
Staff were often rushed and didn’t have time to sit and talk properly to people, this lack of time also resulted in less positive outcomes for the people who called Hunningley Grange home. Whilst staff worked hard and treated people with kindness, this lack of time also meant some people looked unkempt, needed a shave and nail care, and wore stained clothing which is unacceptable.
The home environment was visibly dirty which placed people at risk of infection and some areas were cold and smelled unpleasant. It also wasn’t always safe. For example, leaders hadn’t arranged for wardrobes to be secured to walls in people’s bedrooms which could cause an injury.
It was positive, however, that staff felt improvements were underway to make the service a better and safer place for people to live. Many said they felt happier and less stressed now concerns were being addressed.
We have told leaders where we expect to see rapid, and continued improvements and will continue to monitor the home closely to keep people safe during this time. We will return to check on their progress and won’t hesitate to use our regulatory powers further if people aren’t receiving the care they have a right to expect.
Inspectors found:
- Where people displayed behaviours of distress, there was no care plan in place about how to guide staff to support people to calm and maintain their safety.
- Not all staff were trained in the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA).
- There was a lack of dementia friendly signage around the home and a lack of personalised bedroom door signage.
- Improvements were required to ensure staff had appropriate support and continued their professional development.
- The decoration and service design did not provide a homely feel.
- Improvements were required to ensure systems were in place for people to be involved in their care planning and the changes within the service.
- Staff said communication could be improved for people who were hard of hearing.
However:
- Care records contained detail about people’s preferences, history and religious and cultural needs.
- People had recently undergone continence assessments, to ensure they were provided with the correct continence care and aids.
- Systems had been recently introduced to improve communication between the team.
- Staff had recently introduced different coloured plates, which can be beneficial for people living with dementia during mealtimes.
The report will be published on CQC’s website in the next few days.