Chingford care home inspected after whistleblower report

Normanshire Care Services in Normanshire Drive, Chingford, which cares for severely disabled adults, was visited by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in July last year after anonymous concerns were raised.

The previous inspection, in August 2019, found severe understaffing, staff hired without proper background checks and a resident found with bruises and scratches.

The service was rated 'inadequate' after the 2019 inspection and will not receive a new rating until it can next be inspected in full.

In last year’s visit, specifically focusing on the whistleblower’s concerns, the CQC found both “evidence that the provider needs to make improvements” and signs it had improved.

Read more: Understaffed Chingford care home hired employee without criminal record check or application form

The CQC gave managers 17 hours' notice before visiting and, while inspectors were there on July 15, 2020, spoke to three staff members and reviewed the files for two residents.

A report published earlier this month reads: “Since our last inspection the provider had employed more staff.

“An activities co-ordinator had been employed and a room had been refurbished to become a sensory room… (with) soft furnishings, play mats, hanging mobiles and posters on the wall.

“We noted an improvement to activities offered to people since our last inspection. We saw videos and photos of people participating in activities throughout the Covid-19 lockdown period.”

The CQC was pleased to see proper recruitment processes after the 2019 inspection discovered a new member of staff had not completed an application form or criminal record check.

Manager Qasim Mahmood said he felt the inspector “could see the huge improvements” made since 2019 and was certain the rating would improve in the next full report.

Incidents not recorded

However, some concerns remained about the running of the care home, particularly around how safeguarding concerns were reported.

The report noted that, while six incidents were recorded, the inspector was later “told of incidents that had not been recorded” by relatives.

The report reads: “We asked the service manager about this and were informed about one incident in April.

“This had not been recorded in their normal incident log… (but) was kept in a separate folder by the team leader because, we were told, the person was a new admission on respite.

“One relative told us they would like to know of incidents at the time these occurred, as opposed to when they visited or contacted the service.”

Some relatives of those living at the home also raised concerns that the “high staff turnover did not encourage consistency for the care provided to people”.

The home is owned by Normanshire Care Services, which runs two other services in east London.

These are a care home in Longwood Gardens, Ilford, which is rated 'good', and a supported living service in Old Church Road, unrated at its new address but 'inadequate' at its previous one.

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