Dementia care home put into special measures

A dementia care service has been rated inadequate across all areas and put into special measures following an inspection.

Sterling House, a home with self-contained flats and a communal living and dining area for up to 17 people in Thorpe Road, Norwich, was inspected from 28 August to 15 September.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) identified seven breaches of legal regulations.

Kelly Devenish from Sterling House said: "Our focus throughout has been on ensuring the safety, dignity and wellbeing of residents, and maintaining continuity of care during what we recognise is a challenging period."

The report said risks were not proactively identified and managed, including the environment not being well maintained.

It said people had access to potentially harmful risk items in both communal and private spaces, and systems monitoring the safety of the environment were ineffective.

It identified a lack of effective monitoring and mitigation for risks including dehydration, food intake, malnutrition, skin breakdown and choking.

Governance and oversight was ineffective with the management team failing to complete effective audits and quality assurance processes.

In communal areas, it found people sitting for extended periods with little interaction or stimulation, and at dinner times people were sometimes sitting alone or facing a wall.

The CQC said the provider had not consistently notified the watchdog of all notifiable events, as required.

However, residents and their relatives spoke warmly of staff and said they were generally happy with the care received.

A CQC spokesperson said: "We took urgent enforcement action in September because we found serious safety concerns and believed people could be at risk if we did not act.

"We imposed urgent conditions on their registration, requiring leaders to make immediate improvements to the most pressing risks and restricting the home from accepting new residents without permission from CQC."

It said the service provider had appealed against these conditions and that the outcome of the two appeals would be decided and published by the Care Standards Tribunal in due course.

Devenish said: "While we acknowledge the concerns identified in the inspection, we do not accept that the report fairly reflects the current position at the service.

"Since the inspection, we have taken decisive steps to strengthen leadership, staffing, and governance at Sterling House."

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