Leighton Buzzard care home still in special measures after being handed fourth inadequate rating

A Leighton Buzzard care home in ‘special measures’ has been given its fourth ‘inadequate’ rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Swiss Cottage care home, managed by Roseberry Care Centres, has been given the lowest rating four times since April 2021.

And the latest inspection, published last week, found not enough improvement had been made to keep the 41 residents at the Plantation Road home safe, and that they were “at risk of avoidable harm”.

Despite this, people told the CQC they felt safe there. A person's relative told inspectors: "Safe, oh yes, I don't know exactly why I feel that, but if anything happens to [name of relative] they [staff] always get in touch with me."

And the care home has challenged the latest report, adding it has commissioned an independent consultant to review it.

A statement on behalf of Swiss Cottage care home said: “Swiss Cottage care home has fully engaged with the CQC about their concerns and has provided significant evidence of actions and improvements made to the service.

“We will continue to work tirelessly to deliver the standards of well-being and quality of care we pride ourselves on and to ensure our residents are receiving the best care possible.”

The inspection found people’s furniture was not cleaned, the flooring was dirty and a number of areas had paint chipping off.

The report – which is available to read in full on the CQC website – also stated: “A person living with dementia who had posed a risk to others, and who regularly wanted to go into other people's rooms, was not always being supported by staff in a safe way to reduce this risk.”

Staff at the home were not always treating residents with respect, with one resident ‘told off’ for pressing their buzzer three times to ask for support to use the bathroom.

Residents said staff entered their bedrooms without knocking or asking if they could come in.

The report added that people’s property was not always protected. It said: “There was still unclaimed clothing in the laundry room. Some people's relatives told us their relatives did not wear their own clothes, despite labelling them.”

There were a few positives highlighted in the report which found that action was taken to help them increase the weight of those at risk of malnutrition and nurses did contact health professionals when people were unwell.

There was also positive feedback about end-of-life care and relatives spoke well of the managers and staff. One person said since their relative had moved to the home, their health had significantly improved.

The CQC said: “We told the provider to make immediate improvements and in June 2022 took enforcement action to focus their attention on making these.

"We worked closely with local partners and Swiss Cottage Care Home during this time to monitor progress.”

It added enforcement action was still in progress, and it would continue to monitor the service closely.

The care home’s statement continued: “While we strongly disagree with the criticism raised by the CQC and have fervently challenged the latest report, including commissioning an independent consultant to review it, we have nevertheless responded immediately and initiated a robust action plan to ensure the wellbeing of residents.

"We have also recently further strengthened the home’s management team to lead improvements and to drive the action plan forward.

“While we cannot comment on individual cases, we would also point out that our current residents and their families are extremely happy with the care provided by Swiss Cottage, as demonstrated by the home’s rating and feedback on the independent review website carehome.co.uk, where it holds a score of 9.5 out of 10.0.

"This feedback has been produced despite the challenges faced by both Swiss Cottage and the care home sector as a whole throughout the challenging period of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Central Beds Council said it would again carry out reviews of the home’s residents to make sure that their needs are being met.

A spokesman said: “The council is disappointed with the slow pace of improvement and share the concerns that have been identified by CQC and are in discussion with them regarding this report and how the owners of Swiss Cottage Care Home can positively move forward.

“The home has not taken any new residents from the council, or residents who fund their own care since the first inadequate inspection, and this will continue. The council will be meeting with residents and families again to discuss both this latest report and their satisfaction with the care being delivered. If any resident or family is not confident in the care being provided, then we would assist in looking for an alternative home.”