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Housing association services found ‘inadequate’ by NHS regulator

Genesis Housing Association has been given the lowest rating – “inadequate” – by NHS regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for one of its home care services.

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Newham Homecare in east London was inspected at the end of October and a recently published report found the service had failed to make enough improvements following a previous inspection in March, when it was placed into special measures.

However, a spokesperson for Genesis said it is challenging the rating and the “accuracy of some of the findings”.

The service provides care to 78 people in their own homes, with most people living in supported accommodation.


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The CQC report found that Genesis had “failed to consistently improve the quality of risk assessments and medicines management” within the service.

People remained at risk of unsafe care because risk assessments lacked detail, the inspectors found, and did not give staff clear information about what they needed to do to mitigate risks.

Information about people’s medication was not always up to date and staff did not have enough detail about medicines to support them in a safe way, the report added.

Since the last inspection in March, some staff had a “better level of information about people’s needs and preferences” but others lacked detail. Care plans had not been updated, which meant staff were providing support “without clear written guidance about how to do so”.

Despite staff escalating concerns about people being abused or neglected, the provider did not always take action in a “timely manner” when staff were alleged to have neglected people, the inspectors found.

The service will be inspected again in six months and the CQC said it usually expects “significant improvements” within 12 months.

A Genesis spokesperson said: “We are very disappointed by this report and are following the CQC process for challenging both the overall rating and the accuracy of some of the findings. It would not be appropriate to comment further until we receive the full outcome of this.”

 

Guinness Care and Support – an arm of Guinness Housing Partnership – was also found to be inadequate in its running of one of its nursing homes, Greenhill Residential Home in Devon.

In a report published early in December the CQC found the care home that is currently providing accommodation to 31 people was still inadequate, just over 18 months after it was placed into special measures.

CQC inspectors found people “were not safe” at the nursing home. There were not enough staff to care for people with “complex needs and high dependency levels”. The management had not listened to staff when they raised concerns about staffing levels, which had led to “very low staff morale and increasing sickness levels”.

Residents were not able to go to bed when they wanted and could not always get to the bathroom in time. Although staff were found to be “caring and compassionate” the atmosphere was “chaotic, rushed and task orientated”.

The inspectors found there were call bells “ringing constantly, door alarms beeping and noisy ‘walkie talkie’ radio communications between staff”.

The provider had not recognised that people were not receiving adequate nutrition, including those identified as being at high risk. This meant people remained at risk of losing weight and not receiving enough food and fluids throughout the day and night, the inspectors said.

A Guinness Care spokesperson said: “The latest CQC rating at Greenhill Residential Home fell well below the normal high standards we would expect of our services. We have put an action plan in place to resolve any immediate issues as quickly as possible.”

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