A New Report Has Called For A Change To The Current Healthcare Training Landscape

A new report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has criticised the Drumconner Lancing Care Home near Brighton.

While inspectors noted many basic functions, including infection control and some patient welfare, were being performed to expected national standards, it was found the safety of some residents was put at risk by poor nutrition.

Drumconner Lancing takes care of a number of older patients with a range of physical and mental disabilities - including dementia and Alzheimer's Disease.

But while there were a number of points in the CQC's report where Drumconner Lancing was praised, it was also noticed that two people who had lost a substantial amount of weight in previous months had not had recorded action to mitigate this.

Additionally, senior staff told an inspector that some people who had been assessed at high malnutrition or dehydration risk had their intake recorded by nurses - but investigations revealed very little information about this had been taken down and this makes it difficult for a care plan to be put in place.

Record keeping was generally a weak point for the care home and an administrator at the facility could not find complaints that had previously been received. Prior to its inspection, the CQC was made aware of concerns relating to a person that had filed complaint forms on three separate occasions but had never received a formal response.

This is problematic because care homes must show they have the ability to react to suggestions for improvements - especially where wellbeing or nutrition are concerned.

In the CQC report, an inspector noted: "We have asked the provider to send us a report by October 16th 2013, setting out the action they will take to meet the standards. We will check to make sure that this action is taken."

The response from Drumconner has not yet been publicly disclosed, but executives will have to show they have taken the CQC's criticism seriously before a future inspection.

Expert Opinion

We see firsthand the devastating consequences insufficient training or under resourced hospital wards have on patient safety so we welcome any measure that sets out to make improvements in these areas. <br/> <br/>“As the UK’s population continues to grow and is made up of more ageing residents, it is vital that hospital staff have the necessary skills to provide thorough treatment and care that reflects patients’ individual needs. <br/> <br/> “We hope revisions to the training doctors are currently given ensures a safer NHS for all and that if regional solutions are developed, the successes are shared across the health service which can be learnt from by all those within it.” <br/> Lisa Jordan - Partner