Care home warned to improve safety standards after watchdog finds failings

The Branches, in Springwell Road, was rated as ‘requires improvement’ after an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Areas at the 24-bed residential care home that the CQC said need improvement are safety, effectiveness and how well it is led.

The surprise inspection was carried out on December 10, last year when 23 people, most of whom were living with dementia, were using the service.

The report had to answer five questions. When asked if the service is safe, it said: “The service was not always safe. The building was clean and appropriately maintained. However, items were inappropriately stored in communal food and storage areas.”

The report also stated that the service was not always effective.

It said: “Staff received supervisions and appraisals however, we made a recommendation about medicines training as this was overdue.”

The report said the care home was “not always well-led”.

It said: “Audits undertaken by the registered manager were not recorded so it was not possible to see how these were used to maintain standards.”

The care home was rated as ‘good’ in areas of caring and responsiveness.

The inspection was carried out under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of the CQC’s regulatory functions.

The visit was unannounced, meaning the provider did not know the CQC would be visiting.

A spokesman for the care home said the manager was not available for comment.