Residents at an Isle of Wight care home had to wait for their call bells to be answered, and inadequate staffing meant they feared they may not get to the toilet in time.
Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors said Inglefield Nursing and Residential Home, in Totland Bay, had improved since the previous inspection in 2017, but further improvement was required.
Inglefield was rated ‘requires improvement’ across the board, except in caring, which was rated ‘good’.
Owners: “Working hard to address all the issues”
However, Buckland Care, which manages the home, said it was working hard to address all the issues raised in the inspection, and it hoped to be on track for a ‘good’ rating at the next inspection.
Residents said inadequate staffing meant they often had to wait, sometimes for a long time, before anyone came to answer their call bell. The provider has begun using agency staff to address this issue.
In one incident, an agitated resident was left in their room for an extended period of time, without any effective support to calm them down.
Staffing issues
Two staff members also had unexplained gaps in employment history, which had not been followed up due to recruitment procedures not being followed consistently.
A reference for another staff member revealed they had recently been dismissed while working for a care provider The provider had not confirmed the reasons for leaving so it was unclear if they were suitable to work with vulnerable adults.
Inspectors flagged this up with the registered manager, who said more robust procedures had been put in place.
Training out of date
Staff training was out of date, including fire safety, and moving and positioning training. Only ten out of 30 staff who supported people to eat had received training in food hygiene. To combat this, the manager said they had started imposing sanctions on staff who did not attend training sessions.
The home was found to be caring, with staff looking after residents in a patient and dignified way. Inspectors said they heard staff discussing ways of encouraging one person to eat and it was evident staff knew people well.
Palliative care
The home plans to specialise in palliative care. However, in two instances, end-of-life care plans had not been developed for residents.
This posed a risk that things important to them might not be known or met, especially by agency staff who did not know them well.
New management “making significant ongoing improvements”
In a statement, Buckland Care said:
“We have recently brought in a new management team who are making significant ongoing improvements to Inglefield.
“The residents’ well-being is our number one priority and we always ensure that our staffing numbers are appropriate to the dependency levels of our residents.”
Image: © Buckland Care
