St Andrews House

People received their medicines as prescribed. Staff were trained and checked as competent before giving medicines.

“Staff members were trained and assessed as competent before supporting people with their medicines.” from the report

Inspectors found enough staff to respond to people in a timely way, with agency staff used when needed. Recruitment checks were completed.

“People were supported by enough staff to respond to them in a timely way.” from the report

Staff had been trained to recognise abuse and knew how to report concerns to the appropriate agencies.

“People were protected from the risk of abuse and ill treatment as staff members had received training on” from the report

People said they were involved in activities most days. The home encouraged visitors and provided space for private visits.

“There's quite a lot, something every day, they are usually in the afternoons.” from the report

Inspectors found exposed hot water pipes, unsafe access to heating systems, blocked or affected fire exits, trip hazards and unsafe storage. These problems put people at risk of burns, scalds, falls, fire-related harm and injury.

“A mechanical hoist was stored on the first floor in front of a fire escape blocking effective exit from this area.” from the report

Cleaning was not consistently effective. Food was stored in a fridge that was above the safe temperature on two occasions, and some clinical waste bins lacked suitable internal bags.

“On 2 separate occasions we saw the temperature in this fridge was above the safe storage of food items, putting people at the risk of illness from bacterial growth.” from the report

A fall involving injury had not been fully monitored afterwards. This meant complications might not have been identified quickly.

“We saw 1 incident where a person had fallen and received injuries. However, the post falls monitoring processes had not been fully completed and there were gaps in the monitoring.” from the report

The provider's monitoring systems repeatedly failed to identify and correct risks. New systems had not been fully implemented or checked to confirm they worked.

“The quality monitoring systems continued to be ineffective in identifying concerns and driving improvements at St Andrews House.” from the report

Care plan reviews were under way, but at least one plan did not clearly say where lifting supports were located. This could make it harder for staff to provide consistent care.

“We noted a lack of consistent detail with 1 care plan where information concerning the location of lifting supports was not detailed.” from the report