A West Cumbrian care home has been criticised by inspectors for reducing staff to save cash – putting residents at risk.
Holmewood Residential Care Home, on Lamplugh Road in Cockermouth was visited by two inspectors from the Care Quality Commission after concerns had been raised about health and safety, staffing levels and quality of care.
The commission’s report was published this week.
Previously rated as good overall, inspectors said the home, at the time owned by Churchlake Care Partnership, now required improvement. They added it was inadequate when it came to safety.
Inspectors said: “The provider had taken the decision to reduce staffing levels for financial reasons without considering people’s care and support needs.
“Feedback from people and some relatives showed they had concerns about staffing at the service.
“People were at risk of harm because of widespread shortfalls in safety across the service. Staff had not always received the appropriate training or had their competence assessed prior to providing people with specialist care tasks.”
They added that the home had also failed to carry out the required checks on staff.
It added: “There were not always enough staff available to provide people with safe and timely support. Feedback from people and staff was that people did not always receive their care when they needed it. The provider had not always carried out appropriate checks to ensure staff were safely recruited.”
Inspectors visited the home on October 20 and spoke with five residents, four family members and nine staff. They also reviewed records.
The report added that some staff had not been trained sufficiently and although there was no evidence that anyone had been harmed, the actions by the care provider put residents at risk.
The report said that fire safety had not been managed properly and inspectors made a referral to the fire service while there to review the home.
Holmewood was not following Government guidance for visitors to the home, inspectors noted, with people allowed to pop in.
Inspectors found that the service’s leadership required improvement – and changes to the home’s management team led to a lack of oversight of the service.
Administrator Kroll was appointed to run the home on November 9 this year.
A spokesman for Kroll said: “Resident care remains our highest priority and staffing levels are appropriate for residents. Since the joint administrators from Kroll were appointed for Holmewood Residential Care Home in November, we have ensured continued and comprehensive care for all its residents including the contracting of specialist clinical care operators to best serve Holmewood’s residents, staff and operations.”
