St Leonards home sees improvements

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have published their report into their visit to Kingswood House in Chapel Park Road.

The home, which provides care for people with mental health conditions, was placed in special measures last August.

But the CQC said since then, improvements had been made.

However, the report added fire safety measures in place were not ‘sufficiently robust’ to ensure people would be safely evacuated in the event of a fire. It said: “There was no guidance as to how and where staff should safely move people to.”

Inspectors praised the home for being caring towards its residents.

The report said: “People’s cultural and spiritual needs were met. Staff treated people with kindness, compassion and respect. People’s privacy and dignity was respected by staff. Staff promoted people’s independence and encouraged them to do as much for themselves as they were able to.”

A statement from Innowood Ltd, which runs the home, said: “We recognised the issues that had arisen at Kingswood House preceding the inspection in 2015.

“Following a restructuring of the management team and improved quality assurance processes, significant improvements have now been made that have been recognised by East Sussex County Council Quality Monitoring Team and the CQC.

“In fact, in the new CQC report, there was only one issue that required improvement and that has now been rectified. We look forward to the next inspection, which we are confident will demonstrate the great care we provide for people who use our service.”

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