A HALSTEAD residential home which provides care for eldery people with dementia-related needs has been told to improve some of its services following an inspection.
The Cedars Care Home, on Sudbury Road, received an overall rating of “requires improvement” after a visit from watchdog the Care Quality Commission last month revealed a number of shortcomings.
The report found the nursing residence, which is split into two different units and offers both accommodation and personal care to up to 63 people, fell below standard when it came to the service’s safety, effectiveness and leadership.
Some staff were found to be not adhering to the advice detailed in the care plans of some patients, and the findings also highlighted inconsistencies in the monitoring of residents.
One of the reasons behind the faults, according to the healthcare regulator’s findings, was a lack of staff, which meant patients did not always receive the tailored support they needed.
The report also said there were no systems in place which gave both the provider and the manager of the facility the ability to sufficiently oversee the service being given.
Care home manager Ernest Joseph said: “It was a fair report, but the problem is there have been three different managers prior to me and so some things were started, but never completed or finished.
“They accept that they have seen a huge amount of improvements and they look forward to coming next time to see the improvements in practice. “The change of culture isn’t going to happen overnight but we have seen a lot of change and I am confident that the next time around we move into the ‘good’ category.”
The report did praise “caring and compassionate staff” for their patient approach and safeguarding people from the risk of harm, and the service’s care and responsiveness were rated ‘good’.
But this is now the second time in just over a year that the care home has been tod it needs to improve by the watchdog and comes after the service was oyt into special measures in 2017, after an ‘inadequate’ from the Care Quality Commission.
The home will now have to provide the regulator with an outline of what it plans to do to improve services, which will continue to be monitored.
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