Care home concerns prompt watchdog inspection

Wyndham Manor voluntarily suspended new admissions

A care home has been told it requires improvement after concerns raised prompted a health regulator inspection.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected Wyndham Manor in Cleator Moor, near Whitehaven, Cumbria, after the local authority and the home itself raised concerns about people's care and management.

The watchdog said it identified shortfalls "in relation to record keeping and the management of medicines, nutrition and continence care".

The care home said it flagged concerns following a quality care audit and since the inspection it had made "significant progress" with the agreed improvement plan.

The CQC's inspection also found a breach of the legal regulation in relation to good governance.

A report published following the inspection, said Cumberland Council was supporting the home to ensure "correct procedures were in place to keep people safe".

Admissions suspended

The home has capacity for up to 68 people - including those with dementia - but at the time of the inspection in April it had 40 residents.

The CQC said Wyndham Manor had temporarily suspended new admissions before the visit "to allow improvements to be made and ensure people's safety".

"An effective safeguarding system was not fully in place," the report said.

"It was not always clear how safeguarding concerns were reported, recorded, investigated and analysed."

It added that assessments on the risk of malnutrition and choking were not always accurate and advice from the speech and language therapist could not always be found.

While residents praised the care they received and that there were sufficient levels of staffing, inspectors found there was no system in place to ensure they were trained and supported.

"The [home] had already identified many of the issues we found," the CQC said.

"They had introduced new recording and monitoring systems as well as a new electronic care management system.

"It was not possible to check how effective these new systems were because they had just been introduced and were not yet embedded into practice."

The home confirmed that it had now reopened admissions.

In a statement it said it had last been inspected six years ago when it was rated good.

"We are confident that we will once again achieve this rating at our next inspection," it said.

"CQC acknowledged that the staff treat the residents with kindness, empathy and compassion whilst respecting their dignity and we hope that this will offer people the reassurance that we are moving in the right direction at Wyndham Manor."