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Notice

The CQC issued a press release about a historic inspection of the Home that took place in mid-March 2023.

The Press Release is not reflective of the current state of care at the Home, a fact acknowledged by the Local Authority and by the CQC. We have already challenged a proposal from the CQC to restrict residents, arising out of the same inspection, and we won that case at the Care Standards Tribunal against the CQC, with the CQC acknowledging that the situation on the ground at the time of our Appeal was not the same as at the time of the Inspection and thus they dropped those proposed conditions.

At the time of the Inspection, our manager had resigned, and we had faced unusual pressures as we had agreed to assist the NHS at Stafford Hospital due to a bed crisis they were facing. We received 8 residents from the hospital, but sadly we were not informed as to the medical needs and position of those clients, who arrived in ambulances a week after they were supposed to. Relatives were not informed by the hospital where they had moved the patients until a few days after, and family members wanted to speak to a doctor, which we don’t have on site, as if they were still in hospital.

This perpetuated complaints from the residents’ families and the subsequent urgent inspection from the CQC which has damaged the Home’s reputation. We have had a consistently good rating from the CQC for the last 4 years, and this inspection was clearly out of keeping with our usual standards owing to exceptional circumstances.

We were reliant upon agency staff at the time, owing to sector wide shortages and the additional residents. The CQC stated that 2 of the agencies we used at that time were not ones they would prefer, and we have since switched to other agencies. We are strictly governed by the CQC , but agencies are not required to register with them, so there is little visibility on how the CQC view them.

Since the inspection we are fully staffed, with a new Manager in place and have put considerable resources into the Home to ensure that our usual good rating standards are ensured.

We have asked the CQC to come and reinspect the Home as the snapshot from March that they are basing the Press Release upon is not an accurate depiction of the Home, where staff are incredibly hard working and where we provide good standards of care.

Despite us highlighting the fact that the Press Release was not accurate, given it is now over 3 months ago that the Inspection took place, the CQC have highlighted that it standard to issue a press release, whether it still reflects the position or not, as they take the view that it is a Press Release about a point in time. However unfair or damaging that may be.

We welcome the CQC to come and inspect the Home, and are confident we will regain our good ratings.