A DEMENTIA-specialist care home was “not always safe”, “not always effective” and “not always caring”, inspectors have said.

But residents said it was a “lovely home” with a “warm atmosphere”.

Bridge House care home, in Thames View, Abingdon, failed all four national standards at an inspection by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The two inspectors made a surprise visit on September 23.

Our top stories

It was the second inspection prompted by relatives’ concerns since the home opened in October 2013.

Inspectors said the 71-bedroom home, which has 56 residents, was “not always safe”, the service was “not always effective” and “not always caring”.

Bridge House has been told to take action on all four standards — respecting and involving people who use services, care and welfare of people who use services, management of medicines, and keeping records.

In their report, published on October 31, the inspectors said the home did not always have systems in place “to ensure people’s medicines were administered safely or recorded appropriately”.

They said staff records of the stock of people’s prescribed medicines were not always accurate.

Care workers, they said, did not record incidents where people were agitated and staff did not look to see what caused agitation to improve residents’ care.

During their visit, inspectors said one care worker responded to a person in a “quite short and abrupt manner”.

Another asked how a resident was but did not give them time to respond, which they said left the person looking “despondent”.

Residents, however, told the inspectors “staff are very respectful”, added it was a “lovely home”, and felt their opinions were important.

One resident’s relative told inspectors: “It’s a warm atmosphere and staff respect peoples’ space.”

Inspectors also said residents were protected from risks associated with malnutrition, falls, and care workers demonstrated a “good knowledge of people’s care needs”.

They wrote: “While there were overall a very friendly and respectful culture, people living with dementia did not always get responded to in a respectful way.”

The home’s managers were asked to send the CQC a report by November 13, setting out the action they will take to meet the standards.

When inspectors visited in March they said the home met all expected standards for respect, care, safety, and management, but said staffing was a concern.

In response, Bridge House employed extra staff.

Nathan Hollow, a spokesman for Bridge House, said: “We were disappointed by this inspection report.

“A previous report only three months earlier showed the home to be providing high-quality care across all inspection areas.

“Working with the CQC and all appropriate authorities we immediately implemented a full action plan to address the identified matters swiftly.

“Staff members have benefited from additional specialist training sessions, and robust processes have been implemented to ensure continued high-quality care delivery.

“We have worked closely with residents and families to ensure their individual care and support needs continue to be met, and are pleased to have received very positive feedback.

“We look forward to demonstrating our full compliance in all aspects of care provision when the CQC next visits the home.”

 

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.