A CARE home in Poole has been downgraded from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’ after staff were found to be inconsistent in supporting patients in taking control of their lives. 

The Lindsay, in Lindsay Road, has been told it must improve after a recent inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The home, which was last inspected in 2017, provides personal and nursing care up to younger and older adults, some with dementia, and served 57 people at the time of the inspection.

Inspectors visited the home following a review of information and evaluated safety, effectiveness and whether it is well-led.

The CQC found the service to still be ‘good’ in protecting people from abuse and avoidable harm but ‘requires improvement’ in its effectiveness of care and its leadership.

The Mental Capacity Act requires people make their own decisions or are helped to do so if needed, however, the care home were found to not always follow this.

The report said: “People did not always have the necessary assessments in place to ensure their rights had been fully respected under the MCA.

“Care plans contained conflicting information about whether or not a person had capacity.”

Inspectors also found inconsistencies in delivering oral care with one person saying: "[Staff] don't clean my teeth always and it makes you feel a bit rubbish."

The care manager took immediate action and inspectors were assured by this.

The home was newly decorated, however, the provider had not always followed good practice in assessing how people with dementia could orientate themselves through contrasting colours and personalised items.

Staff commented positively on the manager, but inspectors received mixed feedback on the management of the service.

The report said: “Staff told us the service had experienced lots of changes in manager's post, which had led to low staff morale.”

Comments from staff included: "I have worked for this home for 17 months and in that time, I have had six managers.

“This really does have a big impact on the staff and the inconsistency that comes with so many managers."

The CQC said it will continue to monitor information about the service which will help inform the next inspection.

Danni Davies, managing director for The Lindsay care home said: “We are committed to providing high quality care and services for our residents, and are pleased to be rated as ‘Good’ by the CQC in three out of five inspection areas; Safe, Caring and Responsive.

"We are also pleased that inspectors noted the quality of our facilities, that our residents feel safe with us and that our people know our residents well and understand their needs.

“We are committed to driving improvements at the home and addressed the CQC’s recommendations following their inspection in October 2023.

"We regularly review our staffing levels and refresh our training for our people, and we work closely with our residents to ensure that everyone can get the most out of their time with us.”

“We are proud of the care our people give to our residents every day to keep them healthy, happy and safe in our care.”