Struggling care home needs more work, says watchdog

A nursing home near Ipswich that was previously rated as "inadequate" and in breach of multiple regulations has begun to make improvements, but more work is needed, according to a watchdog.

Baylham Care Home was assessed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) last summer and given the lowest rating as well as being placed in special measures.

During a reinspection at the end of March, inspectors said they had found "early signs of improvement", but there were still issues about safety, staffing and governance. They rated it as "requires improvement".

Optima Care, which manages the home, said it recognised more work was needed, but it was "proud of the progress" already made.

At the time of the most recent inspection, 42 people were living there.

Inspectors said the home had "undergone significant leadership and management changes", but overall progress was "inconsistent and a number of shortfalls remained".

"The service remained in breach of the regulations in the safe management of medicines and good governance," their report added.

The CQC inspectors said people were not consistently protected from avoidable harm.

While systems for incident reporting, safety and learning from events had improved, care plans and risk assessments "were not always detailed or person-centred", and some had contradictory information.

"Systems to ensure medicines were stored, administered and monitored safely were not robust, including the administration of expired medicines, inappropriate storage of fluid thickener, incomplete medicines records, gaps in end‑of‑life medicines planning and unsafe administration equipment," the report stated.

"Although some immediate actions were taken during the inspection, these concerns placed people at ongoing risk of harm and demonstrated a lack of effective oversight."

The report highlighted that a new manager had recently been appointed and "demonstrated an understanding of the significant challenges" the home faced, with action plans and monitoring systems starting to be put in place.

The home was also put in special measures in 2021 after it was found to be "inadequate".

Optima Care said "significant improvements" had been made, including a new leadership team, strengthened nursing and care teams, and enhanced governance and safeguarding arrangements.

"Every improvement we have made has been focused on providing safe, compassionate and high-quality care for every resident," it added.

"While we recognise there is still more to do, we are proud of the progress made and remain committed to building on that progress.

"We will continue to work closely with our residents, families, colleagues, commissioners and the CQC to achieve the high standards of care we expect across all our services."

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