Sandy Banks Care Home
Leyland, PR26
NursingDementia
Rated 5 years agocare home
CQC report explained · a nursing home, run by Venturi Healthcare
Mother Red Caps Home
Lincoln Drive, Wallasey, CH45 7PL
Requires improvementpublished 17 January 2024, 2 years ago
Rated Requires improvement: inspectors found the service was not performing as well as it should and told it what to change.
The five questions inspectors ask
- Safe?
- Requires improvement
- People were protected from abuse and medicines were administered safely. However, parts of the building needed repair, some cleaning checks had missed problems, and some people said staff could be slow to respond when busy.
- Effective?
- Requires improvement
- This area was not inspected during this visit. Its previous rating was carried forward into the overall rating.
- Caring?
- Good
- This area was not inspected as a separate key question during this focused visit. Inspectors did observe caring and supportive interactions, although staff practice differed between units.
- Responsive?
- Good
- This area was not inspected during this visit. Its previous rating was carried forward into the overall rating.
- Well-led?
- Requires improvement
- The manager was approachable and acted on feedback, but quality checks had not identified many maintenance and cleanliness problems. The provider was in breach of Regulation 17 because governance systems were not effective enough.
The latest report, explained
What inspectors found, January 2024
Rated Requires Improvement; inspectors found people were generally safe and cared for, but repairs, cleaning checks and governance were not reliable.
This was an unannounced focused inspection on 14 and 22 December 2023. Inspectors spoke with people, relatives and staff, observed care, and checked care, medicine, recruitment and management records.
The home had enough staff according to senior staff, but it regularly used agency staff while recruiting permanent workers. People were protected from abuse, medicines were managed safely, and risk assessments and care records gave staff useful guidance.
Inspectors found many repairs and cleaning issues, including damaged surfaces, broken radiators and a loose shower screen. The manager acted quickly on several issues during the inspection, but checks had not found most of them and there was no confirmed timetable for the wider refurbishment.
The overall rating remains Requires Improvement. Safe and well-led were both rated Requires Improvement. The other three areas were not inspected during this visit, so their previous ratings were carried forward. The home has held this overall rating for four consecutive inspections.
What inspectors praised
Safe medicines
The home had safe medicine procedures. Staff received updated training and medicine audits had improved.
“The provider had safe processes in place to support people with prescribed medicines.” from the report
Action during inspection
The manager responded quickly to risks found during the inspection, including repairs to some radiators and other hazards.
“By day two of the inspection the registered manager had taken responsive action to ensure repairs carried out to potential risks and radiators in bedrooms had been repaired.” from the report
Care records and risk plans
Care records were individualised. Risk assessments and care plans gave staff guidance to reduce avoidable harm.
“Risk assessments outlined measures to help reduce the likelihood of people being harmed, and care plans contained guidance for staff about how to keep people safe.” from the report
Positive relationships
People and relatives spoke positively about staff and management. Inspectors also saw caring interactions.
“We observed caring and supportive interactions between people living at the service and staff.” from the report
What inspectors were concerned about
Building repairs and hazards
seriousInspectors found damaged walls and woodwork, broken radiators, a loose shower screen and other repair issues. Some of these could create risks for people using the home.
“some walls had sharp broken edges that posed a risk to people walking past, some radiators did not work and had no heat despite being on the highest setting” from the report
Weak management checks
seriousAudits had not identified most of the maintenance and cleaning problems found. The provider was in breach of Regulation 17 for failing to operate effective governance systems.
“The provider had failed to take reasonable steps to ensure good governance of the service.” from the report
No refurbishment timetable
needs fixingThe provider recognised that the building needed full refurbishment, but had not given people and relatives confirmed dates for the work to start and finish.
“the management team had no confirmed plans to show to people and relatives when work would start and be completed to improve all parts of the service.” from the report
Use of agency staff
needs fixingThe home regularly used agency staff while recruiting permanent workers. Some people and relatives said there seemed to be too few staff at busy times and that call bells could take a while to be answered.
“They could do with more staff and they get agency in, although they try and get the same ones, sometimes when they're busy it takes a while for them to come if I ring the buzzer” from the report
Questions to ask them, based on this report
- 01Which repairs identified by the inspectors have now been completed, including the sharp wall edges, radiators, shower screen and kitchen fire door?
- 02What is the confirmed timetable for the wider internal and external refurbishment, and how will relatives be updated?
- 03How are you checking that cleaning and maintenance problems are found promptly rather than missed by audits?
- 04How many permanent staff have been recruited, and how will you reduce reliance on agency staff, particularly at weekends?
- 05How will you make sure staff respond promptly to call bells when the home is busy?
This was a focused inspection of Safe and Well-led only; the other three ratings were carried forward from the previous inspection. This explanation was written from the published report of 17 January 2024 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.
The story over the years
Every inspection of Mother Red Caps Home
7 rated inspections over 9 years: the service has held its Requires improvement rating throughout.
- January 2024Requires improvementcurrent ratingstayed Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement
- September 2022Requires improvementstayed Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- August 2021Requires improvementup from InadequateSafe: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- December 2020Inadequatedown from GoodSafe: InadequateEffective: Requires improvementWell-led: Inadequate
- June 2018Goodup from Requires improvementSafe: GoodEffective: GoodWell-led: Good
- May 2017Requires improvementstayed Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: GoodResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- April 2015Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: GoodResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- February 2015
Report published without a new overall rating.
- February 2015
Report published without a new overall rating.
- October 2014
Report published without a new overall rating.
- March 2014
Report published without a new overall rating.
- February 2014
Report published without a new overall rating.
- February 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- December 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- July 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- May 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- May 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- April 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- January 2011
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 13 January 2011.
Ratings and report dates from the Care Quality Commission. A service can also be visited without a new rating being published, so the timeline shows published inspections, not every contact the CQC has had with the service.
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Same provider
Other services run by Mother Redcaps Care Home Limited
1 other service on the CQC register. A pattern across a group tells you more than one report.
Good
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