Fenland care home 'requires improvement' after inspection

A Fenland care home which looks after older people and those with dementia has been told it 'requires improvement' following an inspection.

Langley Lodge in Queens Road, Wisbech, was full to its 20 residents capacity, when a Care Quality Commission inspector visited the home over three different dates at the end of last year.

In a report published this week the home saw its previous rating of 'good' from 2018 drop to 'requires improvement' across all three areas - which include whether or not the service is safe, well-led and effective.

Among the concerns raised was a lack of risk assessment to ensure people's safety as much as possible in the event of a fire.

The inspector raised their concerns with the fire service who completed a full audit before issuing a Notice of Deficiencies - this highlights action that needs to be taken by the home's management and is issued ahead of any formal enforcement action.

The report said: "The registered manager had not carried out checks related to fire safety that would have identified the improvements needed. For example, it had not been identified that fire drills had not been completed."

The inspector also highlighted failures in the auditing of staff employment records - which showed there were gaps in some employees' employment history, which had not been checked out.

The registered manager, who was not named in the report, had not always given the required notification of certain events to the CQC.

Nor had the manager used a CQC tool to make sure staffing levels were appropriate to meet the needs of people in a timely and safe manner.

The report added: "Feedback was mixed about if the staffing levels were adequate."

However the correct procedures around infection control were being followed and medication was being properly administered.

"Staff spoke favourably of the management team and stated that they felt supported in their roles," said the report.

It also said staff took action to keep people safe from possible harm. But added: "However, actions taken were not always done in the least restrictive way. This included measures to restrict some people's movement around the service.

"This meant that 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 interest."

But the report did add the registered manager had taken immediate action to make the necessary improvements and staff were aware of those changes.

The report did have some praise the manager and deputy manager and said: "The registered manager and deputy manager were clearly passionate about their roles and we saw excellent interactions between them and people at the service."

And it added: "Throughout the inspection, the registered manager, deputy manager and care staff were open and

transparent with the inspector and keen to make improvements on the outcomes for people."