Mapleford Nursing Home in Accrington, provides care for up to 54 older people, younger adults, people with a physical disability, sensory impairment or mental health support needs and people living with dementia.
In November 2023, the service was graded ‘requires improvement,’ which followed an ‘inadequate’ rating given eight months prior.
An inspection earlier this year gave a rating of ‘requires improvement’ overall and in the key questions of safe, effective and well-led.
During their previous visit, the CQC identified breaches of regulations in relation to person-centred care, safe care and treatment, premises and equipment and whether fit and proper persons were employed.
They also identified a breach in relation to good governance of the service, and the watchdog served a warning notice and asked the provider for an action plan.
However, during the most recent visit, the provider was said to have acted on the concerns identified at the last assessment and found improvements had been made, but there were still areas for improvement.
Inspectors said: “People were safe and incidents and accidents were investigated, managed and evidence of lessons learned was seen.
“Staff had undertaken safeguarding training, but not all could describe what they would do to act on safeguarding concerns.
“Records demonstrated the involvement of professionals, and professionals told us they visited the service. We saw professionals visiting during our site visits.
“The environment was clean and tidy, and personal protective equipment (PPE) was available, not all daily cleaning checks had been done.
“Servicing and checks were taking place, but not all had actions recorded of the findings and what was done.”
The registered manager told the CQC that they were addressing the findings from a recent fire safety assessment and making refurbishments in the service.
Staff were also recruited safely, and specific training was provided to support people with challenging behaviour.
However, the service did not always ensure medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences.
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Inspectors added: “Professionals were positive about the service and the engagement and support staff offered.
“However, one discussed a concern about the support staff provided them at a previous visit. Professionals were involved and supported people.
“Staff were positive about the management and the support they provided. Staff supervisions were taking place, and team meetings were being held.
“Staff were positive about the management and the improvements in the service. Information policy and guidance were available.
“Team meetings were taking place and regular newsletters were available with information, updates, and good news stories included.
“Staff were positive about the registered manager and the support they provided, team meetings and night checks were taking place, along with senior management team meetings that included evidence to support and drive improvements.
“Audits and governance checks were ongoing; not all of the audits included the actions taken as a result of the findings.”
People using the service were said to be happy and supported by the staff team, and no safety concerns were raised by relatives.