The care homes regulator is taking enforcement action against a home in west Yorkshire that did ‘not check’ staff suitability during recruitment.
The Care Quality Commission sent inspectors on an unannounced visit to Heaton Grange Residential Home in Bradford in June to see if the service should be taken out of ‘special measures.’
They said the home is still ‘inadequate’ 10 months after inspectors first raised concerns.
There were 17 residents, including people with dementia, at the home in the Heaton area of Bradford.
CQC’s deputy chief inspector for adult care Debbie Whitehead said: ‘We found care provided at Heaton Grange Residential Home fell short of the standard that services are expected to provide.
‘We found breaches in regulation at our previous inspection and disappointingly found limited progress has been made in addressing these despite us telling Heaton Grange where they must improve.’
Their concerns included the staff recruitment and selection procedures, which they said ‘were not always being followed to ensure only people suitable to work in the caring profession were employed.’
Ms Whitehead said: ’It was very concerning that they were not checking the suitability of staff during recruitment.’
They held a meeting with the registered provider after the initial inspection in August 2016 and heard about an action plan that was in place to improve the service.
Last year, inspectors said the service was not meeting five regulations relating to safe care and treatment, need for consent, fit and proper person employed, staffing and local governance.
During their visit this June they said they were still concerned about safe care and treatment of residents, person centred care, the employment of fit and proper people to work in a care home and good governance. They noted three breaches of the Health and Social Care Act continued since the previous inspection.
Among their concerns were medicines management. Inspectors said ‘We could not be confident people received their medicines as prescribed.’
They also said health, safety and welfare risks ‘were not always properly assessed and mitigated.’
However, residents told the CQC they liked living at the home and said the staff were kind and caring. They also said they felt safe. Staff told inspectors they knew what residents liked to do and their care and support needs.
Inspectors noted that risk assessments ‘did not always provide accurate and up to date information.’
They noted that there were medication policies and procedures but ‘staff did not always follow the correct procedures, which meant we could not be confident people received their medicines as prescribed.’
Nursing in Practice has contacted Heaton Grange for comment.
