Luton care home under special measures after damning report from care watchdog

A care home in Luton has been placed under special measures after a damning report from the care watchdog.

The Care Quality Commission is meeting with owners of Victoriana Care Home and Luton Council to address what it says are major issues.

Heritage Care Homes Limited, which runs the home, says Covid and the cost of living crisis are to blame for issues including staffing and building maintenance.

The report states“We identified shortcomings in safe care and treatment, protecting people from abuse, person-centred care, reporting of reportable incidents and good governance during this inspection.

“There was ineffective leadership in the service and governance systems did not identify areas where improvement was needed. Checks were not in place or were not effective in determining where action needed to be taken. A lack of presence of managers in the service had allowed the development of a negative culture that did not promote positive results for people.

Lansdowne Road Care Home provides support for people who may have physical disabilities, mental health needs or dementia.

>Risks to people were not thoroughly assessed and risk assessments lacked detailed guidance for staff to follow.

> Many infection control issues on the ward and in the home required maintenance and deep cleaning.

>People did not receive personalized care and staff were not trained or informed about people’s specific health conditions.

>Little effort was made to engage with people in a meaningful way, people were not always treated with kindness and compassion, and their privacy and dignity were not always respected.

>Staff did not always have the necessary training or knowledge to effectively support people.

>Changes needed to be made to the environment to help people with dementia navigate.

The house has already been inspected in 2020 and found to need some improvements.

Inspectors said: ‘The supplier developed an action plan after the last inspection to show what it would do and when to improve. During this inspection, we found that the supplier continued to violate the regulations. If the supplier has not made sufficient improvements within this timeframe and there is still an inadequate rating for a key question or overall rating, we will act in accordance with our application procedures.

A care home spokesperson said: ‘We have been heavily impacted in terms of staffing and recruitment as a result of Covid. We were unable to recruit a manager and senior staff, which directly influenced our rating downgrade. Unfortunately, building upgrades and maintenance that were scheduled for 2020/2021 have been postponed due to widespread labor shortages and the inability to find contractors to work in the area. nursing home after Covid, as we still had active cases.

“The subsequent increase in the cost of living has also affected all aspects of our service. We accept the shortcomings and issues highlighted by the CQC and assure you that residents are our priority and are cared for with dignity and respect. We spoke with residents and their family members to reassure them and open a dialogue about their vision of the service. We are also working with the Local Authority on an improvement plan and hope to make great progress in the months to come.