Banksfield Nursing Home: Fulwood care home where residents were at risk of choking and malnutrition receives new inspection rating

In one of the previous inspections of Banksfield Nursing Home last year carried out by health watchdog Care Quality Commissions (CQC) it was found residents were at risk of choking, malnutrition and dehydration, following complaints from both relatives and staff and was then placed into special measures. Lasting three days, the unannounced inspection found the diet and fluid intake of residents was 'not consistently monitored and nutritional risk assessments were not always carried out which placed elderly residents at risk of becoming malnourished. Staff did not notice that one person lost 1.4kilograms of weight over the 15 day period. Another resident, who was under the care of a dietician, had not been weighed for three months and those with dementia could have choked as they were not always supervised during mealtimes, inspectors found.

In the most recent inspection on Wednesday, November 2, it was found that, although deemed good in the effective, caring and responsive aspects, the provider had not addressed all of the issues found at the last inspection, and that the care home still required improvements in the safe and well-led categories. In the safe aspect, the report published last Friday (November 25) stated that "systems in place to manage and oversee people's medicines were unsafe which placed them at risk of harm" and therefore the rating remained requires improvement. The report read: "Records for adding thickening powder to drinks, for people who have difficulty swallowing, showed people's drinks were not always made correctly, therefore we could not be assured people were safe from the risk of choking. The recorded quantities of medicines in the home were not always correct, therefore we were not assured people were having their medicines as prescribed.

"Records to show people's topical preparations were applied were not always in place and completed, therefore we were not assured people's skin was cared for properly. We found medicine administration records did not always include all of the person's prescribed medicines, therefore we were not assured people received all of their medicines safely."

In the well-lead aspect the action remained as requiring improvement. This meant the service management of the quality and safety in the home was not always consistent. Action plans were not always completed to show progress or when actions had been completed. Even though these had been completed by and overseen by the senior management team. Systems for the recording and oversight of medicines had not been established sufficiently to ensure using medicines in the home were managed safely. This placed people at risk of harm.

It was noted however that the provider took action following the last inspection to review the quality of the care provided and the experiences of people and staff, with one person claiming, "The manager is trying very hard to improve the home."

The care home provides personal and nursing care for up to 42 people 65 and over. At the time of this inspection the service was supporting 27 people.

A follow up will now be scheduled where the CQC will continue to monitor information they receive about the service, which will help inform when next inspected.