A BARNSLEY care home has been told it requires improvement after the Care Quality Commission found three breaches of regulations in an unannounced inspection.
Riverside Care Home, on Camborne Way, cared for 45 people at the time of the assessment between October 29 and November 14.
The health watchdog were called into the Barnsley home, which has no nursing care, due to concerns they received in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance.
The home was told it ‘requires improvement’ following the inspection.
A report states: “The provider did not ensure all risks to people’s safety and wellbeing were identified or provided enough detail as to how these should be mitigated.
“Care plans had missing or inconsistent information and audits failed to identify these gaps.
“For example, because staff did not document when thickened fluids were given, we could not be assured that individuals who required them had received them as prescribed.
“Staff understood their roles and responsibilities; however, they did not always follow best practice when monitoring people’s health.
“Recorded observations of care, for example positioning and fluid charts, were not always completed in line with professional advice or the providers policies and procedures.”
Inspectors did praise the home in a number of areas.
The report said: “Overall, the provider worked with people and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that.
“Staff concentrated on improving people’s lives while protecting their right to live in safety, free from bullying, harassment, abuse, discrimination, avoidable harm and neglect.
“The provider had systems in place to safeguard people from the risk of abuse including the training of staff in how to recognise and report abuse.
“Staff understood their responsibilities to report concerns and told us they felt comfortable to whistle blow on poor practice.”
The service has been given areas they need to improve in.
The report added: “Governance and auditing within the home, although taking place, had failed to identify and address the concerns we found at our site visit.
“Following the site visit the provider has undertaken a number of immediate actions to address the concerns and has taken steps to gather feedback from people and strengthen leadership and oversight within the service.
“These improvements will take time to implement and embed.”
A spokesperson for the home told the Chronicle these steps have already been taken.
They added: “Whilst the home is disappointed with the outcome of the inspection, the team has already completed all actions provided and we look forward to being reinspected and returning to our previous rating.
“The home has an exceptional reputation for the highest quality of care which can be evidence by our excellent 9.8/10 score on carehome.co.uk. “
