A bad care home for people with a learning disability

Read our story about a home for adults with a learning disability that needs to improve.

CSCI inspectors have been disappointed to find that this home for people with a learning disability consistently fails to meet national minimum standards.

But the main problem area, from which many of the others probably stem, is in how well the staff know, and communicate with, the residents.

One of the best ways to tell what a care home is like is to read what the other residents have to say about it in the service user guide (the document which explains what kind of service is offered).

However, one of the complaints about this home is that it does not include the views of its residents in its guide.

The guide is also not available in other more easy to read formats, such as Braille or audio tape. This is important for many of the residents who can't read very well.

“Actually, most of the residents prefer to talk with one another in Makaton,” says Marion Trewellyn, a CSCI inspector who visited the home recently.

“This is an internationally-respected and recognised language that is made up of hand gestures and pictures rather than words,” she went on.

“However, the home hasn’t trained its staff to use Makaton.

“This is a shame, because if the home would address just this one issue, and use Makaton not only in its service user guide, but also on a day-to-day basis, there wouldn’t be so many challenging incidents arising in the home.”

By challenging incidents, Marion means that residents are sometimes so frustrated that they can have angry outbursts, and these can be violent.

Staff don’t know the residents well

Communication problems between staff and residents seems to be a real stumbling block and not just in the language that is used.

Marion found that the staff are often out of touch with the needs of the residents for a number of reasons.

Inspectors on a recent visit to also found that the behavioural pyschological guidelines were out of date.

New care plans were not in place for all residents and reviews of these plans were not happening often enough.

This can affect how well the staff know and understand the changing needs of each resident.

“On top of that, the daily notes that they keep about events in the home are not sufficiently detailed and don’t show how each resident’s needs, which are listed in their care plan, were met on that day,” says Marion.

“This gives the impression that the staff don’t know their residents’ needs very well – or, at least, well enough to fill in notes about them.”

Another problem is the food. Although there’s always plenty to eat, the ingredients are not always as nutritious as could be.

Vegetables are not always served, and when they are, they tend to be frozen and tinned.

The residents also need help in deciding what they should be eating but, at thsi home, there is no advice on healthy eating.

“Records on what medicines are given out, and when, also leave a lot to be desired,” says Marion.

“We found a number of errors, which is worrying because bad record keeping could have a direct knock on effect on residents’ health.”

CSCI is continuing to work with the home to help improve standards.