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Fairfield House makes swift improvement after warning
5:00pm Wednesday 10th October 2012 in News
A HEALTH and care watchdog has found that a Lyme Regis care home has taken swift action to make urgent improvements.
The Care Quality Commission had issued a formal warning to Fairfield House following an unannounced visit by inspectors to the Charmouth Road home in August. At the time, inspectors found that the home had failed to ensure that it had a system in place for the safe administration of medication. They found that records intended to show when people had been administered medication were not reliable and that staff did not have guidance on when to dispense medicines as required.
There was also some evidence that some medication was given to people when it was not required.
Inspectors returned last week to check that the notice had been complied with and confirmed that steps had been taken by Fairfield House Health Care Ltd to tackle the issues raised.
Fairfield House owner Eytan Krips said: “I am pleased to report that CQC visited Fairfield House on September 21 and found that our practices and audit systems for administering medication are of a high standard. I would like to thank our newly-appointed quality assurance manager and our senior staff who have worked both enthusiastically and tirelessly.
“The CQC inspectors we have worked with could not have been more helpful, enabling us to ensure that all standards and outcomes are continually met.”
Ian Biggs, deputy director of CQC in the south, said: “The law says that these are the standards that everyone should be able to expect. “Providers have a duty to ensure they are compliant. Our inspectors will keep Fairfield House under review. Following our intervention, the provider has taken steps to tackle the issues which we unearthed.
“We will continue to monitor the home closely to make sure that the improvements which have been made are sustained.”
In the routine inspection, inspectors gave the home a good write-up for many aspects of its care.
People in the home told them that they felt the staff treated them well and that they felt confident that staff would help them in a way they wished and that they felt safe living at the home.
A visiting relative told them they were satisfied with the home meeting their relative’s needs that they were included in the decisions made about the care of their relative and were often consulted about how the home was run.
The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator of health and social care in England which ensures that care meets government standards of quality and safety.