Care home rated inadequate over safety and hygiene

A care home in Nottinghamshire has been placed in special measures after being rated as inadequate by inspectors.

Falcon House Care Home in Middle Street, Beeston, was found to have a "poor culture" and residents were not supported to manage their personal cleanliness and hygiene.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) report also said the home "wasn't a safe and clean environment, and equipment wasn't well-maintained to mitigate risks".

Minster Care Management Limited, which runs Falcon House, said it had worked with the city council to formulate an improvement plan and already made "sustainable progress".

The CQC inspected the home in March when it had 35 residents.

It found six breaches of regulation relating to safeguarding, safe care and treatment, consent, providing person-centred care, management and oversight, and medicines management.

The overall rating for the service, and the ratings for how safe and well-led the service is, have dropped from good to inadequate.

Issues included managers failing investigate incidents thoroughly to help identify improvements and also failing to ensure staff had appropriate training and skills.

Greg Rielly, CQC deputy director of operations in the midlands, said the findings were "disappointing".

"While people were generally pleased with the service and said that staff treated them with kindness and compassion, we found that parts of their care didn't meet the required standards to be safe and effective," he said.

"The home wasn't a safe and clean environment, and equipment wasn't well-maintained to mitigate risks.

"The home had a poor culture which meant that staff didn't feel comfortable raising concerns."

CQC has issued a warning notice to the provider, highlighting where improvements are needed.

A spokesperson for Falcon House said: "We are disappointed that the CQC has given us this rating and acted immediately in addressing their concerns.

"Working closely with the local authority, we fully assessed the service and developed an action plan, adding a new operational and management team.

"Additional training has been carried out and we have also begun implementing new electronic live systems to monitor progress.

"We are being supported by health professionals and Nottingham City Council's quality team and are making consistent and sustainable progress.

"We look forward to welcoming the CQC back to reassess the service in the future."

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