Action taken at home where resident fell 26 times

A care home where one resident fell 26 times and suffered five serious injuries has been placed in special measures.

Ellerslie Court in Southport has been rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after an inspection earlier this year.

Inspectors found residents were regularly falling, and were not being moved to manage the risk of bed sores and other skin issues, with one person left sitting in a wheelchair for five hours.

Karen Knapton of the CQC said the "deterioration" in the quality of care at the home was caused by chronic understaffing and poor leadership.

The home has been placed in special measures, meaning the CQC will closely monitor its efforts to improve following the inspection in February and March.

Ellerslie Court had previously been rated as "Good" by the watchdog.

Lotus Care, which operates the site, has been contacted for comment.

During their visit, inspectors found one person had fallen 26 times, "five of which had resulted in significant injuries", the report said.

The falls had not been reported to a local safeguarding team, while risk assessments had not been done to reduce the risk of repeated incidents.

"This volume of falls indicates staff didn't have enough time to help people at risk of falls move around the home," Ms Knapton said.

She said understaffing and an over-reliance on agency workers had led to a "poor culture".

"Interactions between staff and residents weren't warm or friendly and were often task focused placing people at risk of loneliness.

"Additionally, agency staff were sometimes given inductions by unqualified staff which led to people receiving unsafe care.

"For example, eight people hadn't received their prescribed medication placing them at risk of harm."

Inspectors also found dirty pillows and bedding in the home, while noting a "strong smell of urine throughout the building".

In another case, one person's bedroom had a wardrobe filled with the belongings of former residents who had lived there 16 months ago despite asking staff to remove them.

Staff told inspectors there were not enough workers to respond to the needs of residents, and one said: "We are rushed for time, there are always buzzers going off."

Another said morale "has gone down", while another worker said the staff had "not had supervision in months and there is no employee of the month anymore".

Ms Knapton said the CQC would not hesitate to take further action if "rapid improvements" were not made.

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