Eastbourne care home once again given overall rating of ‘requires improvement’

The recent report of Palm Court Nursing Home in Prideaux Road was published on Monday, August 14.

Ratings of 'requires improvement' were also given for the questions of is the service safe?, is the service responsive?, and is the service well-led? following the focused inspection.

The report says the service had implemented a new care planning and recording system which was not yet embedded into staff practice.

The inspector said improvements were needed to reporting processes to ensure incidents were correctly investigated and people's care plans and risk assessments needed work to ensure they contained accurate information on how to support residents safely.

People's daily records did not accurately reflect the care they received or events that happened, according to the report.

It states: “Recording was inconsistent, incomplete and there was a risk that information needed to keep people safe was being missed.”

Residents were not always provided with person-centred care and activities provided were not sufficient to keep them engaged, the inspector said.

They added: “Staff did not always respond to people appropriately when people were upset. Guidance for how staff should support people if they became anxious or distressed was not clear. People and their representatives had not been given the opportunity to contribute to care planning.”

Despite this, the report says there were enough staff to support people and improvements had been made to infection prevention, control processes and the environment.

It adds: “People were being admitted to the service safely. Some improvements had been made to governance and oversight. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives.”

The last rating for this service was ‘requires improvement’ in February and there were breaches of regulation, the report states.

It says: “CQC served a warning notice to the provider following this inspection relating to concerns around safe care and treatment, person-centred care and governance.

“At this inspection we found that although improvements had been made in some areas, the provider remained in breach of regulations.”

A Palm Court spokesperson said: “Palm Court continues to work closely with relatives, Eastbourne Social Services and an external quality improvement consultant to ensure that we offer the very best care to our residents.”