THE Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told St Catherines care home in Nantwich that it must make improvements to protect the safety and welfare of people they care for.

It follows an inspection in November 2017, and a subsequent rating of inadequate by the commission.

St Catherines is a care home providing accommodation for up to 40 people. There are two units within the home which are all based on one floor. On the day of the inspection there were 31 people living in the home.

At the latest inspection the service was rated inadequate for responsive and well-led and requires improvement for caring, effectiveness, and well-led. Overall, St Catherines was rated as inadequate.

The full report from the inspection can be found at cqc.org.uk/location/1-129164623

Some of the findings from the latest inspection included: Care homes should be aware of potential risks to people and manage them appropriately.

Inspectors found risks to people were not managed safely and there was no clear guidance for staff on how to reduce the risks identified.

There was no oversight or learning from incidents and accidents that happened in the home.

Although CQC found there had been some improvements in the management of medication - such as medication was being stored and administered safely - further improvement was still required.

Topical creams were not dated when opened and charts indicating where topical creams needed to be applied were not always completed.

This meant inspectors could not be confident that people's skin care needs were always met.

Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North, said: “This service was inspected in January 2017, it’s disappointing to report that this latest report shows there has been little improvement and some areas have deteriorated.

"I expect providers should use our inspection reports to help address their problems and rectify them as a matter of urgency.

“Individual care planning was poor. When we looked at care plans we found that they were disorganised and not always completed.

"It was not easy to find information and in some cases where risks had been identified, there was no care plan in place to inform staff how to keep the person safe.

“A complaint and safeguarding information from the local authority about some people not having access to baths or showers had not been picked up as part of the providers quality assurance or feedback systems, and although the manager told us plans were now in place to address this, the fact the issue had been raised by the local authority shows the provider was not providing individual patient-centred care.

“The overall rating for St Catherines is 'Inadequate' and the service is therefore in 'special measures'.

"Services in special measures will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider's registration of the service, will be inspected again within six months.

"The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this timeframe.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

It makes sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, caring, well-led and responsive care, and we encourage care services to improve.

It monitors, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.