The Isle of Wight Council is confident standards at one of its care homes will improve very quickly after it was rated as ‘requires improvement’ by inspectors.
Following a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection at The Gouldings in Freshwater last month, the local authority took immediate action to bring about improvements.
Inspectors rated the care home ‘good’ for caring and responsiveness but ‘requires improvement’ in effectiveness, leadership and safety.
The service had previously been given an overall ‘good’ rating in September 2016.
Dr Carol Tozer, the council’s director of adult social care, said:
“We are disappointed to be rated as “requires improvement” but are determined to deliver improvements quickly and effectively.
“We took action from day one of the inspection which included staff training, changes to how we record the administration of medicines and how we undertake and update risk assessments.
“We have introduced additional senior leadership for the service and have secured the services of an independent expert to monitor our progress.”
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The Gouldings provides vital residential, day and home-based services to help people regain their independence after an illness, operation or accident.
The latest inspection report, published today (Wednesday), said people who used the service and their families were very satisfied with the quality of care and the support they received. Inspectors found no shortcomings in the outreach part of the service that supports people in their own homes.
In the report, the CQC said staff spoke fondly about the people they supported and said they “loved their job” and found it “rewarding” to care for people. The report said people’s needs were met in a personalised way by staff who were kind and caring.
The CQC added:
“People felt listened to and knew how to raise concerns. They, and healthcare professionals told us they would recommend the service to others.
“Staff respected people’s privacy and protected their dignity.”
Since the inspection, the council has worked hard to address areas of concern raised during the inspection, including arrangements for managing medicines safely and infection control risks, as well as ensuring staff receive all essential training.
Dr Tozer added:
“Together with my colleagues who work at The Gouldings, we are passionate about providing the best service and support possible.
“We have already delivered a lot of extra staff training, made changes to some of our policy and procedures (including recording practice) and augmented the leadership of the service by bringing in an expert with a track record of excellence in residential and reablement care.
“We will continue to invest in the delivery of our action plan – and will be keeping the CQC fully up to date with our progress.”
