THE care watchdog has warned it will not hesitate to take enforcement action against a home stuck in special measures if improvement is not made. 

The Beeches Care Home, on Beacon Road, Wibsey, was inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) across two dates last December.

Inspectors rated the residential home - which provides personal care to older people including some with dementia - ‘inadequate’ once again. 

The home’s ratings for safety and leadership remained ‘inadequate’ while a previously good rating for effectiveness and responsiveness dropped to ‘inadequate’.

A category for caring improved from ‘inadequate’ to ‘requires improvement’.

A spokesperson for the home said it was “disappointed” by the decision, adding: “Progress had already been made in a short period of time”. 

Why was it rated 'inadequate'?

Sheila Grant, CQC’s deputy director of operations in the north, said: “It was very concerning the provider hadn’t addressed our concerns raised in the previous inspection last April, and we won’t hesitate to take enforcement action if this isn’t addressed rapidly.

“We were still concerned that people weren’t living in a service where they had maximum choice and control of their lives with staff providing support in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.

“Leaders did not make sure there were enough staff to look after people. We saw people shouting out for help and looking for staff to support them, but they were too busy to help. This is unacceptable, people have the right to have their basic care needs met, and not live in distress. Staff also told us that sometimes they had to miss their breaks due to low staffing numbers and still couldn’t always meet people’s needs.

“Additionally, staff didn’t have time to carry out any engaging activities. People were sitting for long periods of time in their bedrooms and communal areas without any meaningful interaction, and only saw staff when they were providing personal care or giving people their meals.

“Also, there was a secure garden, but this wasn’t freely accessible to people. Keypad locks meant people could only access it with support from staff. Even when people were supported to use the garden, records showed that it wasn’t safe for people to use.

“Leaders haven’t taken our previous feedback and used it to make the rapid improvements we told them to. We have told them they must provide us with an action plan to give us assurance improvements are being made at pace to keep people safe.

"We will be keeping it under close review with monthly monitoring of the action plan. We will visit the home again and if we don’t see significant improvement, we won’t hesitate to take action, even if this results in the closure of the service."

There were also concerns about medicine management, nutritional requirements not being met, and inconsistent care plans.

But inspectors observed "caring and compassionate" approaches from staff during their visit. 

The report said: "Staff culture in the home had improved. Staff were pleasant to people despite being busy, and they showed a genuine desire to provide good care."

What has the home said? 

A spokesperson for The Beeches Care Home said: “We focus on providing the highest quality care for all of our residents and we are clearly disappointed that the CQC has rated the service inadequate. 

“The CQC noted in its report that a new manager had been appointed just prior to its visit and that progress had already been made in a short period of time. Since the inspection took place, we have focused on making the improvements required as quickly as possible and additional support has been provided from group level to assist the team in the home as this process takes place.

“The new manager has also introduced and implemented a number of new systems, processes and staff training programmes to ensure that medicines are properly managed, care records are fully up to date, and that all residents feel safe in the home.

“The home was previously rated ‘good’ in a number of areas and we look forward to CQC’s next visit when hopefully ratings are upgraded to reflect the improvements made.”