A ‘FOUL-SMELLING’ Stalybridge nursing home at which ‘half the staff need waking up’ has been rated ‘inadequate’ and placed in special measures.
Care Quality Commission inspectors found serious concerns about Parkhill, on Huddersfield Road in Millbrook, at an inspection in July.
It found residents were not properly washed and were treated in an ‘undignified and degrading’ manner.
And comments from some of its 26 residents and family members spelled out their worries, including complaints of a person entering a resident’s room at night, with little action.
They said: “It’s the third time this has happened now. It must be recorded somewhere because I keep telling staff. I can’t relax.”
Others added: “The staff are not really interested. They should go round the patients and they don’t.
“There is a lot of agency staff and they just stand about. They never get involved with the patients. Half of them need waking up.”
A family member commented: “I think they are short staffed but they do their best. I think they’ve been interviewing for staff.”
Inspectors discovered staff did not maintain accurate records and information about people’s needs.
Leaders were not managing safety risks well, including taking action when incidents happened and sharing lessons learned.
There was little evidence improvements implemented were effective and embedded in the long term.
The home environment was not suitable for people who lived there who had dementia. It had not been designed to allow people to have maximum independence.
People’s needs and care plans were not regularly assessed and updated, with.
A CQC report also states: “During our site visit, we observed people were not washed, their nails and hair were not always clean and clothes were often dirty.
“People were left in continence aids for long periods of time and personal care before meals times was not always promoted.
“During the assessment, the inspection team observed multiple occasions where people not treated kindly as adults, given choice and were left in undignified and degrading positions including the lack of access to continence support and including being placed at risk through unsafe moving and handling.
“We raised a number of safeguarding concerns to the local safeguarding team following our onsite visit.”
Parkhill Nursing Home, run by Belmont Parkhill Limited, was inspected by the CQC following numerous concerns being raised about the service including safeguarding, staffing and management arrangements.
Its overall rating declined from requires improvement to inadequate, as well as the ratings for being safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
Being placed in special measures means it will be kept under close review to keep people safe and it will continue to be monitored to check sufficient improvements are being made.
CQC has also used its regulatory powers further.
Alison Chilton, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said: “When we inspected Parkhill Nursing Home, we were concerned to find ineffective leadership and a shortage of experienced, permanent staff, having a serious impact on all areas of people’s care.
“Residents also told us the staffing levels and high agency usage made them feel unsafe and that there was no consistency in their care.
“The home smelled unpleasant, in part because staff weren’t always able to support people with their personal hygiene as their time was so stretched.
“Staff also left people in continence aids for a long time and couldn’t support them with personal care, or with brushing their teeth for the same reasons.
“Staff didn’t always treat people kindly or with compassion.
“We saw some people who chose to stay in their room or were cared for in bed didn’t have the same level of interaction with staff, or access to food, drink, and activities, as other residents.
“We also saw that staff didn’t always ask people for consent when providing support or involve people and their families in decisions about their care.
“Leaders need to make sure there are enough staff on duty to provide people with person-centred, dignified care.
“People experienced avoidable harm because staff didn’t understand their responsibilities to protect people from the risk of abuse, including working with external healthcare professionals.
“Three people told us that they didn’t feel safe living at the home and had concerns that someone was entering their room at night. We raised several safeguarding concerns to the local authority safeguarding team following our inspection.
“We have told Parkhill Nursing Home where we expect to see rapid and widespread improvements and will continue to monitor them closely to keep people safe while this happens. We won’t hesitate to use our regulatory powers further if people are not receiving the care they have a right to expect.”
Staff spoke positively about the deputy manager, who was new in the post and Parkhill is working with stakeholders to identify and address areas for improvement.