What the CQC found at Eastcroft Nursing Home

Inspectors saw some positive interactions, and most families spoke positively about staff's caring nature.

“Staff were kind and patient and we observed some nice interactions between care staff and people.” from the report

People were seen by healthcare professionals when needed, including a GP who visited weekly.

“People were seen as required by a GP, who visited the service every week.” from the report

Staff understood how to raise abuse concerns and knew about whistleblowing.

“Staff understood how to protect people from abuse.” from the report

People were supported to eat and drink enough, and their weights were checked monthly without significant changes.

“People were supported to eat and drink enough to meet their needs.” from the report

Staff did not follow a speech and language therapist's eating and drinking guidance. Inspectors said this placed a person at significant risk of choking.

“We subsequently confirmed with a speech and language therapist that this was not in line with their eating and drinking guidance and placed the person at significant risk of choking.” from the report

The home had not checked that staff were competent to administer medicines. Records were completed retrospectively, and one person's medicines were left untouched at the bedside.

“Medicines were not administered safely or in line with national best practice.” from the report

Some recruitment records were incomplete, training records were unavailable, and staff had high failure rates in some training.

“The provider failed to ensure there were appropriate processes in place to assess and check the competence, skills and experience of staff to undertake their role.” from the report

People were sometimes dressed in others' clothes, did not always receive suitable meal support, and were not routinely asked for their views.

“People were not always cared for in a dignified way.” from the report

Care plans lacked important details about people's conditions, preferences and communication. Activities did not consistently meet people's needs, including those cared for in their rooms.

“People's needs and preferences were not reflected in their care plans and they did not always have access to meaningful activities.” from the report

The home's checks did not identify serious problems with care, training, risks or incidents. The home also failed to notify CQC about some incidents in a timely way.

“Quality assurance systems in place did not identify the issues we found during the inspection and the manager did not have effective oversight of the safety or quality of the care provided.” from the report