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Manchester care home failings.

 

A Manchester residential care home has been told by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) that it must improve or face further enforcement action.

During an unannounced inspection at Lindenwood Residential Care Home in November 2014, inspectors found that the registered provider was failing to provide safe, effective, or well-led care.

Inspectors found that improvements required after a previous inspection in April 2014 had not been made

Under the CQC’s new programme of inspections all adult social care services are being rated to help people choose care. Lindenwood Residential Care Home was rated Inadequate.

Inspectors identified several areas where improvements are needed. These include that there were not always enough skilled and qualified members of staff to meet people’s individual needs and that checks carried out on staff as part of recruitment had not always been completed before their employment.

Other concerns were that staff training was not always up to date, staff supervision sessions were not frequent enough and care plans for residents were not regularly updated to take account of people’s changing needs

It was also noted that the service’s complaints policy and procedures were not robust. Complaints were not always responded to promptly or satisfactorily, the home failed to engage residents in any meaningful activities to help promote their independence or need to be active; the absence of a registered manager for two years had led to a decline in quality and staff morale was poor due to a lack of effective leadership.

CQC deputy chief inspector of adult social care in the North, Debbie Westhead, said: "The care provided at Lindenwood fell a long way short of what we expect services to provide. The historical lack of leadership had a negative effect on the quality of care. We have told the provider that they must take action to resolve the issues we identified and we are monitoring the situation closely in liaison with the local authority to ensure people are safe from any immediate risk.

"We have made it clear that we will return to the home to check that the necessary improvements have been made. If not, we will take further action to make sure that people living there receive care which is safe, effective, caring and responsive to their needs."