Drumconner Lancing Care Home On The South Coast Of England Has Been Criticised By The CQC

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

In the 21st century no care home resident should be at risk of malnutrition and Drumconner Lancing must provide answers as quickly as possible about why standards dropped and what has been done to ensure the same incidents will not happen again. <br/> <br/>“Strong record keeping is absolutely vital in protecting patients’ welfare and the home must also show every step has been taken to make improvements in this area. <br/> <br/>“Time and time again we are contacted by families who are appalled at the care a loved one has been given by the home that was meant to look after them and we have repeatedly called for improvements to standards. <br/> <br/>“We hope Drumconner Lancing takes immediate action following the CQC’s report and discloses what this is as quickly as possible to restore faith in its services.” Lisa Jordan - Partner