Care home is ordered to improve safety with concerns raised over falls plan

The Edwina Mountbatten House on Broadwater Road was told it required improvement in its most recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) report.

The home, which does not provide nursing care and was founded in memory of the first Countess Mountbatten of Burma, was told it required improvements in two out of five categories.

At the time of inspection, the category “Safe” was rated as requires improvement as some aspects of the service were not always safe and there was an increased risk people could be harmed.

The report stated: "Some risks associated with people's care had not been consistently assessed and planned for.

"One person's falls risk assessment had identified they were at risk of falls, but there was no falls care plan in place describing how this risk was to be mitigated.

"Following falls, including some which resulted in head injuries, records did not provide assurances that post falls protocols had not been followed."

The report added: "One person had been given a 'once weekly' medicine a day later than planned. We also found two recording errors.

"Staff had not identified these errors or brought them to the attention of the registered manager so that

remedial actions could be taken."

When observed for how “Well-led” the care home was, it was rated as requires improvement as management and leadership was “inconsistent”.

The report referenced the CQC's last inspection in 2018 which discovered records "relating to people's care were not always complete", resulting in a breach of Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

This inspection found the nutrition audit had not identified the concerns the CQC found in relation to "monitoring weight".

The three other categories inspected by CQC - “Effective” "Caring" and “Responsive” were rated "good".

Edwina Mountbatten House was contacted for comment.

The report on the care home was published by the CQC in April.