Northampton care home rated ‘inadequate’ as residents ‘put at risk of malnutrition’

A Northampton care home that cares for older people and people with dementia has been rated ‘inadequate’ by the care regulator.

The Leys Residential Care Home in Booth Rise, Moulton was visited by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in December, when inspectors found that residents were ‘put at risk of malnutrition’.

In two out of the five categories, ‘is the service safe? and ‘is the service well-led?’, The Leys was rated ‘inadequate’.

The care home was given a rating of ‘requires improvement’ in the other categories of ‘is the service effective?’, ‘is the service caring?’ and ‘is the service responsive?’

Midlands Care, the company responsible for the residential home, told The Chronicle & Echo that a plan was already in place to improve the home when the CQC visited.

The inspection took place between December 10 and December 12 last year when the care home was looking after 26 people.

The CQC report, which was published online last week, said: “There was a continued lack of understanding, oversight and governance systems to ensure people received a safe service.

“Systems that were in place were not implemented effectively and audits did not identify ongoing concerns with the service.”

The report went onto say records of people’s care needs were ‘incomplete and contained misleading information’, which meant staff ‘did not receive all the information and guidance they required to provide care that meet people's needs’.

Before the most recent inspection, The Leys was last visited by the CQC in December 2018 when the home was rated ‘requires improvement’.

In the 2019 report, the CQC pointed out that ‘not enough improvement had been made’ since the previous inspection.

Inspectors also said: “We found there to be insufficient numbers of staff working at the service to keep people safe. People were at risk of experiencing unsafe care and treatment as a result.

“People's nutritional needs were not properly assessed, and people did not receive the support they needed with eating and drinking. This put people at risk of malnutrition.”

The CQC highlighted staff training as an area where improvement is needed, but also praised aspects of the work staff members complete.

The report continued: “People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.

“People were supported to access relevant health and social care professionals when they were unwell.

“We found individual staff to be caring and compassionate towards people. However, due to staffing levels at the service they lacked opportunities to spend time with people.”

Midlands Care says it is determined to improve The Leys’ most recent rating.

A spokesman for Midlands Care said: “We are aware of the recent CQC findings and have completed a major improvement plan, which had started before they visited.

“The Leys is part of a larger group and all other sites are inspected and rated ‘good’.

“We are determined to provide good quality care and will settle for nothing less than the best quality care at the Leys.

“The manager remains committed to providing good quality care and is striving to make improvements for the residents.

“The home will continue to make more than the required improvements and eagerly await CQC to re-visit and inspect.

“We are unable to make any further comments but look forward to demonstrating and share the changes and good quality soon.”