Nursing home given formal warning for lack of safety measures

Dec 5 2012 by Helen Hunt, Heswall News

A WIRRAL nursing home must make urgent improvements after care inspectors found they were failing to protect patients from harm or injury.

Mother Redcaps Care Home in Lincoln Drive, Wallasey, has been issued with a formal warning from the independent health watchdog the Care Quality Commission over its poor use of bed rails.

Inspectors who carried out a check of residents’ beds were concerned that people living at the home were at risk of harm or injury because of the unsafe use of bedrails and mattresses.

It followed a case in August when a person’s legs had became trapped between the bed rails and the bed itself on three separate occasions.

If the care home fails to improve, the CQC says it “won’t hesitate” to use legal powers which in the most serious of cases could mean suspending its service or even shutting it down. Health providers can also be fined or even prosecuted if they fail to achieve essential standards of care.

The CQC issued the formal warning to Mother Redcaps following an unannounced visit to the home in Sep 2012.

That visit was to follow up requirements made during a previous inspection.

On the most recent inspection, it was found that the home was failing to comply with government regulations covering the safety and suitability of equipment.

Inspectors found bed rail protectors were not always in use to prevent people’s limbs becoming trapped between the rails, and inspectors saw that some bed rails had been positioned with gaps wide enough for residents to fall through.

Information documented in the home’s maintenance book showed that in August some- one had been trapped between the bed rails and the bed itself on three separate occasions.

And records showed that it had taken two weeks from the first occurrence before a safer bed was supplied.

During their visit, inspectors requested that bed rails were repositioned as a priority to ensure residents’ safety, and CQC has subsequently reported the concerns identified on inspection to the Health and Safety Executive.

Malcolm Bower-Brown, CQC’s director in the North said: "The law sets out national standards that everyone who uses services should be able to expect. Providers have a duty to ensure they meet these standards.

“This warning sends a clear and public message that Mother Redcaps Care Limited needs to address these issues as a matter of urgency or face serious consequences.

“Our inspectors will return to the home in the near future and if we find that the provider is not making the required progress we won’t hesitate to use our legal powers to ensure residents are receiving the service they are entitled to expect.”