Northumberland care home placed in special measures by CQC over safety and staffing concerns

A care home in Northumberland has been placed into special measures by the Care Quality Comission (CQC) following concerns of safety and staffing.

Northlands Care home in Morpeth, which looks after people with physical disabilities, older people, and people with dementia, was rated inadequate following an inspection in December 2023.

The CQC said the assessment was prompted due to concerns they received in relation to keeping people safe, delivering the right care, and staffing.

Parkside Care Limited, who run the facility, said there has been "good and effective progress over the last three months" and that they "hope to return to a good rating as soon as possible".

The home supports up to 39 people at a time and was looking after 37 people at the time of the inspection.

The CQC found that there had been a number of falls at the home or unexplained bruising which weren’t always identified or referred to the safeguarding team.

Staff were also found to not always be supporting people to drink enough fluids, including those at risk of choking or using a feeding tube.

Following this inspection, the service’s overall rating dropped from good to inadequate, as has the rating for being safe and effective.

The "well-led" rating has dropped from requires improvement to inadequate. As this was a focused inspection, caring and responsive were not included and remain rated good from their previous inspection.

The service is now in special measures, which means it will be kept under close review by CQC to keep people safe and it will be monitored to check sufficient improvements have been made.

Linda Hirst, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said: "When we inspected Northlands Care Home, we were disappointed to see a shortfall in strong leadership.

"We saw ineffective management structures meant the provider couldn’t monitor the quality of care provided or know where improvements were needed to support people safely.

"During our visit, we found people weren’t always safe from the risk of avoidable harm.

"At the time of the inspection the service was in organisational safeguarding with the local authority as there were multiple concerns about people's care and safety at the home.

"We found there had been a number of falls at the home or unexplained bruising which weren’t always identified or referred to the safeguarding team in a timely manner or being learned from to prevent future incidents.

"We found staff weren’t always supporting people to drink enough fluids. Charts consistently showed people weren’t drinking enough and care plans didn’t always show where people, including those at risk of choking or using a feeding tube, needed additional support to keep them safe.

"Additionally, we saw the provider didn’t always make sure staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and support. The local authority safeguarding team had also highlighted areas where staff needed more training, and the provider was working with them to address issues.

"We have told Northlands Care Home where we expect to see rapid and widespread improvements and will continue to monitor them closely to keep people safe while this happens. We will return to check on their progress and won’t hesitate to take action if people are not receiving the care they have a right to expect.”

In response to the findings of the inspection, a spokesperson from Parkside Care Limited said: "We regret that Northlands Care Home has fallen below the standards that we and the Care Quality Commission expect. As noted in the report, we were in the process of making improvements at the time of the inspection in December and have recruited an experienced new Head of Quality and Compliance. They are working with colleagues on a comprehensive plan to ensure that improvements required to our record keeping and procedures are made and sustained.

"We have made good and effective progress over the last three months since the inspection and hope to return to a Good rating as soon as possible, in common with the other care homes within our long-established group.

"We have already taken numerous steps to rectify the issues highlighted, including a review of resident care planning, risk assessments, audits, and quality assurance.

"We would like to thank those residents and relatives who spoke to the CQC during the inspection for their kind words and support. The well-being and safety of our residents remains our first priority."

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