Ferndown Manor care home "requires improvement"

Ferndown Manor has been told it requires improvement after the latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) report found it wasn’t always safe and wasn’t always well-led.

The manor is a residential care home which can provide nursing care to up to 75 people. At the time of the inspection, 49 people stayed at the home.

The report stated: “Some people had cognitive and sensory impairments that limited their ability to identify risk.

“Staffing levels and staff deployment meant they were not always visible leaving people without staff nearby and at risk of avoidable harm.

“Risks to people from environmental hazards had not always been assessed to ensure people’s safety.”

Because of some people’s cognitive and sensory impairments, the report said that they could not always use their call bell.

The inspectors “observed one person shouting out for staff for ten minutes.”

The report also said that changes in leadership and the absence of a registered manager had a negative impact on staff morale, and lack of consistent leadership “had left staff feeling unsupported.”

The home did not have a manager registered with the CQC. The manager would be legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of care to be provided. However, the regional director said a new manager had been appointed, would start the role the following week and would apply for registration with the CQC.

One care worker told inspectors: “You are always being pulled in different directions as there’s not enough staff.”Another said: “People with dementia need constant reassurance, you need to be constantly alert and when we do personal care there’s no one else to look after the rest.”

An improvement plan was put in place which included employing more staff and key senior staff, including a manager. To new team leaders started their induction the week of the inspection. The care home was rated ‘good’ in the other categories of effective, caring and responsive.