A care home provider in Wirral has apologised after it was slammed in its first inspection.
Anchorage Nursing Home in Hoylake, operated by We Care Group, was rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after an inspection in March 2023 and placed into special measures.
The last rating for the service under a previous provider in November 2021 said it required improvement.
The inspection found the home failed to comply with fire recommendations, staff had not received training on how to keep people safe, medicines were not managed safely, and people were kept in “undignified conditions.”
It also found “people were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not always support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.”
Before the inspection took place, Wirral Council had also suspended services meaning people under its care were not placed in the home. This will not be lifted until the local authority has assurances about the quality of care.
However, the CQC said the care home was responsive to the findings and was willing to improve. A spokesperson for the home said they had “already made significant progress on rectifying many of the concerns identified and are confident that the home will soon be back to the good standard we expect within our homes.”
The inspection found people’s safety was not always monitored in line with their care plan and “people were at an increased risk of harm.”
On fire safety, “staff continued to smoke underneath an external fire escape next to a flammable substance and a lock to a gate providing a means of escape in the event of an emergency had not been removed following recommendations given.”
Medicines were not managed safely and there were no protocols in place for two different patients taking end-of-life medicine and medicine for agitation.
On top of this, only 25% of staff had completed medicine management training and parts of the home were found to be “unclean and unhygienic” or in need of repair with damaged floors.
However, there were assurances the provider was preventing visitors from spreading and catching infections, admitting people safety, and using PPE correctly. The CQC also “observed heartfelt and caring interactions between people living in the home and the care staff.”
According to the report, the environment within the home was poorly maintained with some bedrooms in a bad state of repair meaning “people were living in undignified conditions.” It was also found “there had been lack of accountability, responsibility and scrutiny at all levels.”
Bernie Suresparan, CEO of We Care Group said that when they took over the home in April 2022, “there was a lot of investment needed to develop and improve the home and raise standards of care. At the time of the inspection, we were already working to implement improvements, including the refurbishment of the home which has now been completed.”
He added, “We are disappointed with the findings within the report, which we take very seriously. We would like to apologise to residents, family members and the local community, that the standards in the home are not yet at the level expected within the We Care Group.
“We would like to reassure relatives, residents and the community that since the inspection we have put a more robust action plan in place, to make the necessary improvements identified in the report, introduced new systems and have appointed an interim manager.
“We have already made significant progress on rectifying many of the concerns identified and are confident that the home will soon be back to the good standard we expect within our homes. We have also completed a refurbishment programme to ensure a better environment for residents living in the home.”
Adult social care committee chair, Cllr Janette Williamson, said, “The Anchorage was under a voluntary suspension on new admissions following a quality inspection by Council officers in March 2023. Since then, the home has been under monthly monitoring by the contract team. Following the CQC inadequate report, we issued a formal suspension in June 2023.
“The Anchorage is working through an action plan, agreed with the CQC, and is engaging with our contracts team on progress to improve quality of the service.
“This is a compelling example of how our contracts and commissioning and quality team are, through frequent contact and regular inspections, identifying issues in our care homes and beginning to address them – even before CQC inspections – and putting plans in place swiftly to improve care for Wirral residents.”
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