Rossendale care home's failings as improvement needed for 4th time

Abbeycroft Residential Care Home, in Loveclough, Rossendale, provides accommodation and personal care for up to a maximum of 33 people and specialises in providing care for older people and people living with dementia.

The last inspection was in August 2020, and the service has been rated requires improvement for the last four consecutive inspections.

During the most recent inspection, on March 7, the Care Quality Commission focused on the areas of ‘well led’ and ‘safe’, which were both found to be needing significant improvement.

A report published on April 5 stated the ‘safe’ area had been rated ‘good’ at the last inspection but had dropped to ‘requires improvement’ due to a number of environmental risk factors.

The report read: “Whilst some environmental risk assessments had been completed, there was no risk assessment for a missing handrail on one of the staircases.

"In addition, the risks posed by the substantial build-up of discarded items outside the garage had not been considered.

“We noted some bedroom doors were fitted with a deadlock mechanism, which meant staff were unable to access the bedroom if the deadlock had been activated.

"This was unsafe and placed the people living in the home at risk.

“Bedrails had not always been fitted with protectors. This situation placed people at risk of harm and entrapment.

“There were also areas in the home which would benefit from redecoration and refurbishment.

“Whilst most areas of the home had a satisfactory standard of cleanliness, we noted a bathroom had been left heavily soiled, the smoking area had not been regularly cleared and staff were preparing food on an unsuitable surface in the dining room.”

The CQC also found despite having sufficient staff to meet people's needs, people living in the home told inspectors they often had to wait for assistance.

The report went on: “We noted a dependency tool was not used to monitor the level of staffing.

“People living in the home also said there was a difference between the approach of the day staff and night staff.

“We discussed these comments with the registered manager who agreed to investigate and carry out checks on different shifts.

“Following the inspection, the registered manager sent us an action plan which stated a new dependency tool will be implemented.”

In the key area of ‘well led’, the rating had remained as ‘requires improvement’ with inspectors finding that although audits and checks had been carried out, action plans had not been devised to address any shortfalls.

The report read: “During the inspection, we found shortfalls in the management of risks and the quality monitoring systems.

“We also noted the falls and mobility audit was inaccurate and did not reflect the situation in the home.

“The audit indicated all bed rails were fitted with protectors, when only one bed had protectors fitted.

“The registered manager had made appropriate referrals to the local authority in line with safeguarding vulnerable adults.

"However, she had not always submitted statutory notifications to the Care Quality Commission.

“Given the findings of the inspection and the absence of effective audits it was difficult to determine continuous learning and ongoing improvement at the time of the visit.”

Additionally, residents said they were provided opportunities to be engaged in the service, but there was no evidence of any regular meetings, meaning they had limited opportunities to express their views about life in the home.

As a result, the CQC has requested an action plan from the care home and will continue to monitor the service until the next inspection.

A spokesperson for Abbeycroft said: "I will start out by saying that we were extremely disappointed to receive the rating of requires improvement.

"In the past three years everyone in the care industry has worked through a terribly difficult time, and there is no training that could prepare you for what we had to face.

"We had this to cope with a world of change with respect to social isolation,  infection control measures and daily updates on the television telling us how many people had died. 

"Also angry relatives who could not see their family. No one in the country or even the world was prepared for the ensuing three years.

"The Care Quality Commission, who perform a vital role, had stopped visiting homes and we usually relied on them for guidance. They also began to change their model of inspection.

"We admit that when the inspector called there had been an 'accident' in one of the toilets and this was dealt with immediately. 

"For those of us who live with elderly relatives or young children will know that this sort of thing can happen any time, any place, anywhere. All the other bathroom facilities in the home were clean and spotless.

"We also agree that we fell down on the governance system. We are in the process of changing from handwritten reports to a fully computerised system and this has caused some teething problems. We have now corrected this and full goverence is in place for all audits.

"With regard to the building, we agree that we need to update this. We have provided an action plan listing our commitment to updating the building.  

"Our staff are dedicated to the service users in the home. They work extremely hard in very difficult circumstances.

"Care is an ever changing world of work. We are not perfect but we have never put any resident at risk of harm.

"In the three years we carried on trying to look after our residents and we did this very well.  

"We do need a regulatory body and always appreciate the advice and input they give us and we need to know when we are not doing things correctly.

"We try to create a good relationship with everyone, residents, relatives,nurses, doctors and inspectors. Our aim is to give our service users a comfortable, warm and loving and safe environment in which to spend their days. We hope we achieve this even though we are perceived to require improvement. We will not stop trying."