Care Home In Eastbourne Has Been Criticised By The CQC

A care home in Eastbourne has been told to improve by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after a number of failings were found.

Inspectors visiting the Eastbourne Grange home in April found that people with mobility issues were often left out of communal events.

While the majority of residents at the home remarked they could make friends easily, those with restricted movement were unable to take part in group activities - something the CQC claimed could have left them "socially isolated".

Another issue was that people who were bed-bound were not covered by risk assessments and that there was no hoist to help these people up in the event of an emergency evacuation.

In addition to this, staff had no guidance on how to prevent patients from developing pressure sores or ulcers - which could result in infection and a rapid decline in health.

A lack of nutritional planning was also a problem at the home, as the CQC found many residents had not been weighed regularly, meaning they were at risk of becoming obese, or losing too much weight and risking health problems.

However, the biggest issue found was a lack of training for staff. As of the CQC's visit on April 23rd 2014, there was no training or induction policy or programme in place for new staff.

Five employees at the home had not received an induction of any kind, while one member of staff that used cleaning chemicals told an inspector they had not been given any training on how to avoid risks.

Speaking on the case, the CQC said: "Where providers are not meeting essential standards, we have a range of enforcement powers we can use to protect the health, safety and welfare of people who use this service (and others, where appropriate).

"When we propose to take enforcement action, our decision is open to challenge by the provider through a variety of internal and external appeal processes. We will publish a further report on any action we take."

If you or a loved one has been neglected whilst in a Care Home which resulted in Pressure Sores, our Medical Negligence Solicitors could help you to claim compensation. See our Pressure Sores Claims page for more information.

Expert Opinion

A worrying series of issues have been highlighted by the Care Quality Commission and it is now vital that management and staff at the care home work to examine the failings identified with an ultimate aim of ensuring standards improve quickly. <br/> <br/>"Our work on behalf of victims of care home failings and neglect means we understand the huge difficulties and consequences that such issues can have, so it is important that the important of tackling these problems is not underestimated. <br/> <br/>"The safety and welfare of residents should always be a top priority and steps should be taken to ensure the problems seen here are not repeated in the future." Mandy Luckman - Partner