Jersey's L'Hermitage Care Home temporarily stops taking new residents following critical report
A care home in Jersey will temporarily stop taking in new residents following failings found in an inspection.
L'Hermitage Care Home in St Peter has 11 areas which need improvement, according to The Jersey Care Commission (JCC).
The regulator's two main concerns are that staffing levels fell below minimum requirements and a management style that negatively impacted the home's culture.
Inspectors visited the care home on Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 February to gather feedback from residents and staff.
A follow-up review then took place on Thursday 7 March and Monday 18 March where the officers reviewed care plans, staff recruitment, training and wellbeing.
Breaking down the 11 points of improvement, two were described as "areas of particular concern" and four to be completed with "immediate effect".
Staff training regarding competency with medication was said to be "overdue and not up to date".
The Commission reported on the home's management style and stated: "Staff confirmed hesitancy in voicing concerns or expressing opinions freely.
"Staff gave examples of private discussions happening in the corridor instead of a private space. Staff spoke of rudeness, lack of respect and a high staff turnover since the beginning of 2023."
Health professionals also raised issues with poor communication and rudeness, one said: "When I tried to raise a concern with staff, we were ignored."
A care resident's relative explained: "I was not aware of how to raise a concern and hadn't received information concerning this on admission. Communication was poor but has now improved."
However, feedback from another relative detailed the home as "first class, I am always kept informed."
In response to the report, a spokesperson for L'Hermitage Care Home said: "The health and well-being of our residents is our utmost priority and we take feedback from the JCC extremely seriously.
"While the Commission acknowledged our dedicated and caring staff team, we regret that some of our procedures and policies did not meet the high standards we set for ourselves.
"We sincerely apologise to our residents and their loved ones for any shortcomings.
"We have addressed specific concerns regarding our agency colleagues - while all were checked by the provider, we did not appreciate that the JCC required us to retain copies of their DBS certificates for verification.
"This oversight has now been rectified. Furthermore, while our colleagues completed medication training via Boots online training, we now understand that care staff must also provide additional evidence of competence in the form of additional qualifications.
"We have taken steps to ensure compliance with this requirement. All our nurses are also qualified to administer medications within L'Hermitage."
The home has also recruited two new Community Care Managers.
The full JCC report can be read here.
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