22 July 2020
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Fairview House is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 55 people aged 65 and over. This includes people living with dementia. At the time of the inspection there were 35 people living at the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Information relating to people’s individual risks were not always recorded or did not provide enough assurance that people were safe. Suitable arrangements were not in place to ensure the proper and safe use of medicines. Effective arrangements were not in place to protect and prevent people who used the service from abuse. The staffing levels and the deployment of staff were not suitable to meet people’s care and support needs. People were not protected by the prevention and control of infection. Lessons were not learned, and improvements made when things went wrong.
The leadership, management and governance arrangements did not provide assurance the service was well-led, that people were safe, and their care and support needs could be met. Quality assurance and governance arrangements at the service were not reliable or effective in identifying shortfalls in the service. There was a lack of understanding of the risks and issues and the potential impact on people using the service.
Rating at last inspection (and update)
The last rating for this service was inadequate (published 14 January 2020) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. This service was placed in ‘Special Measures’ following our last inspection to the service.
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about unwitnessed falls and the provider’s arrangements for falls management. Other concerns related to unexplained bruising, inadequate staffing levels and inappropriate moving and handling practices. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of ‘Safe’ and ‘Well-Led’ only.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has not changed and is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Fairview House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement
We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.
Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service remains in ‘special measures’. This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration, we will re-inspect within 6 months to check for significant improvements.
If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe. And there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the registration.
For adult social care services, the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it. And it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.