Care home put into special measures due to no Covid checks on visitors and staff failing to wear PPE

A care home in West Yorkshire has been put into special measures, after inspectors found there was no system in place to ensure visitors were Covid-safe to enter the home and staff were either seen not wearing PPE appropriately or not at all.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has taken action against a Pontefract nursing and residential home following an inspection in August which led to it being rated inadequate and placed into special measures.

The inspection was carried out due to concerns received about infection prevention and control as well as staffing levels.

Inspectors rated the service inadequate overall and inadequate for how safe and well-led the service is. It is rated requires improvement for being effective, caring and responsive.

Sheila Grant, CQC’s head of adult social care inspection, said: “When we inspected Roop Cottage Nursing and Residential Home, we found a disorganised service, where a lack of strong leadership was impacting on every aspect of people’s care.

“This was not a safe place for people to call home. Vulnerable people who rely on staff taking steps to protect them were unable to do so. Inspectors found serious safeguarding concerns, particularly where two people identified as a risk to each other's safety, spent long periods of time together, and an unlocked, unsupervised kitchen area where pans were boiling, and a knife could be accessed.”

She added: “With regards to COVID-19, there were no systems in place to check if visitors were safe to enter the home. People and staff were not having regular testing, and staff were seen not wearing PPE appropriately or not wearing it at all.”

If fundamental improvements have not been made by the time of the next inspection, CQC will take further enforcement action.

Roop Cottage is a care home providing residential and nursing care to up to 35 people. At the time of the inspection, there were 26 people living in the home. Inspectors found there was a lack of personalised care at the home with some people waiting for two hours to get their breakfast.

They also found that staff did not feel supported and there was a lack of communication from the management team.

“Since our inspection, some improvements have been made around COVID-19 as well as other concerns highlighted. We will continue to monitor the service closely and will take further action if we are not assured it is making necessary improvements,” said the CQC.

Other findings included medicines being poorly managed and a faulty fire door leading to a flight of stairs not being identified as a risk.

Staff knowledge around the number of people living in the home and who had a choking risk varied and knowledge around how to meet people's dietary needs was not evident, according to inspectors.

However residents said staff were caring and tried their best and they engaged well with the activities programme.