Bowbridge Court Care Home 'must improve' after being placed in special measures

A care home has been placed in special measures after it was rated inadequate by inspectors.

Bowbridge Court, Newark, which is operated by Ideal Carehomes (Number One) Ltd, has been told by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) that significant improvements must be made within six months.

If a further inspection finds not enough improvement has been made, action will be taken to start the process to prevent it from operating.

Ideal Carehomes managing director Mr Paul Farmer said they were disappointed with the findings of the inspection and important lessons had been learned.

“Significant progress was made prior to, and has been made since, the inspection, including employing additional experienced members of staff,” he said.

“We are confident that, with our new team and service improvement plans in full progress, our residents receive good standards of care at Bowbridge Court.

“Ideal Carehomes will continue to support staff and carry out regular checks to ensure our high standards are followed through our internal monitoring processes.”

The inspectors, who visited the home in April, found residents were not provided with consistent kind and caring support, and their rights under the Mental Capacity Act were not respected.

Exposed residents to the risk of harm.

Systems to reduce risk associated with care and support were not always effective, which exposed residents to the risk of harm.

The CQC report, published this month, said although people felt safe in the home they were not always protected from the risk of abuse.

They did not always receive medicines as prescribed and were not always managed safely. Equipment used to support people was not always clean.

The report said there were enough staff to provide care and support but they did not always receive suitable training or support.

Day-to-day health needs of residents were met but there was a risk they might not receive appropriate support for specific health conditions because of a lack of information in care plans.

The inspectors said residents were encouraged to be as independent as possible and staff treated them with dignity and respected their right to privacy.

There were opportunities for residents to get involved in social activity and they were supported in maintaining relationships with family and friends.

Mr Farmer said a robust service improvement plan had been introduced after a previous inspection, but its roll-out was impeded by staff vacancies.

A new team was in place at the time of the April inspection but it was too early in their development for the CQC to see the results in improved practices.

Mr Farmer said recruiting and up-skilling the right staff who were capable of upholding the highest level of care was their priority for the wellbeing of residents.

“Our main priority is our residents. We are confident that with our new staff team and service improvement plans in place, these issues have been addressed,” he said.

“It is of utmost importance to us that our residents receive the highest standards of care.”