Littleport care home given warning by health watchdog

Daniel Mansfield Tuesday, January 15, 2013
11:08 AM

THE Care Quality Commission has demanded immediate improvement from the owners of a Littleport care home which has continued to provide a sub-standard level of care.

Making Space, the owners of The Limes, in Church Lane, must make improvements to standards of care at the home or they will face further sanctions from the national healthcare watchdog, including possible suspension of service.

The warnings follow an unannounced visit by inspectors to the care home on November 7, to follow up on concerns raised at a previous inspection last year.

Following the visit, inspectors found the owners of The Limes needed to make improvements in relation to safeguarding people who use services from potential abuse.

Inspectors found that seven different physical abuse allegations had not been reported to the local safeguarding team.

The home failed to ensure that staff had received the appropriate training to enable them to deliver care to people safely and to an appropriate standard.

An action plan was submitted by the service in August stating staff were to receive training in dementia awareness, Korsakoff’s Syndrome, Huntington’s disease, Pick’s disease, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder but none of these session had been carried out on the day of the inspection.

Andrea Gordon, deputy director of operations for the commission, said: “The law says these are the standards that everyone should be able to expect. Providers have a duty to ensure they are compliant.

“These warnings send a clear message that The Limes needs to address this issue or face further consequences.

“Our inspectors will return in the near future and if we find that the required progress is not made we won’t hesitate to use our legal powers to protect the people who use this service.”

The Limes is registered to provide accommodation for up to 22 people who require nursing or personal care.