Rowan Garth Care Home, Liverpool, placed in special measures following CQC inspection

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Rowan Garth Care Home in Liverpool, inadequate overall and the service has been placed in special measures, following an inspection which took place in May.

The service was also rated inadequate in all five areas, whether it is safe, well-led, effective, responsive and caring. At the last inspection in March 2020 the care home was rated as good overall.

This inspection was carried out due to concerns received about the standards of care provided to people, staffing levels as well as records management issues.

Rowan Garth, run by Wellington Healthcare (Arden) Ltd, is a residential care home providing nursing and personal care for up to 150 people aged 65 and over. At the time of inspection there were 120 people using the service.

Hayley Moore, CQC's head of adult social care inspection, said:

'During our inspection of Rowan Garth Care Home in Liverpool, we found that people did not always have care that met their needs, also people were not being treated with dignity and respect.

'There were occasions were inspectors found people lying on thread bare linen, and one person who lived with dementia had been covered with a curtain because staff told us they did not always have access to clean linen.

'We also observed one person's room where a soiled duvet had been left on the chair in the corner of their room for most of the morning. 'We found that processes were not effective to safeguard people from abuse or investigate and act on allegations or evidence of abuse.

'This sort of care is absolutely unacceptable, and no person should ever have to live like this.

'Following the inspection, we immediately fed back our concerns to the provider, who put in place immediate improvements. They assured us they would be working with local health and social care organisations to ensure further improvements will be made.'

'The service has been placed in special measures, which means we will keep it under review and will re-inspect within six months to check to see whether significant improvements have been made. If sufficient improvements have not been made at that point, we will take enforcement action in accordance with our legal powers.'

Inspectors found:

• People were at risk of harm because risks were not assessed, recorded or manged effectively
• Medicines were not administered safely. Not all staff with responsibility for administering medicines had received training or had their competency assessed. Training for staff in other areas such as the Mental Capacity Act, safeguarding and safe moving and handling was also poorly completed
• There were shortfalls in relation to the management of infection and prevention control
• There was a lack of working together with external agencies to deliver effective care and treatment and support people's access to healthcare services
• People were at risk of receiving inadequate care that did not meet their needs because assessments and care plans were poorly completed and not person-centred
• People's rights were not always protected by the actions of the service and people were not always treated with dignity and respect
• People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice
• There was lack of evidence to show that people were involved in decisions about their care, support and treatment.

Full details of the inspection will be published on our website in the next few days.

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