Bedford care home 'requires improvement' despite mixed inspection report

A health watchdog has criticised Orchid House care home and given it an overall rating of ‘requires improvement’.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) made an unscheduled visit to the Kempston home – which caters for autistic people and those with learning disabilities – on four occasions earlier this year but has only now published its findings.

As well as the poor overall rating, inspectors also gave the ‘requires improvement’ rating to all the other five categories – safety, effectiveness, caring, responsive and whether the service was well-led.

And Mentaur Limited – which runs the home in Halsey Road – has vowed to work with the CQC and the council and have already made many changes.

The CQC report said: “We have identified breaches in relation to safeguarding people from abuse, safe recruitment of staff, safe care and treatment, staffing, consent to care and overall management oversight of the service at this inspection.”

A spokesman for Mentaur Limited said: “Mentaur has a longstanding excellent reputation as a residential social care provider. We would like to assure all stakeholders that we are working closely with the CQC and the local authority to address any concerns outlined in this report, most of which have already been resolved.

“We are also pleased to read the positive observations from CQC throughout the report that residents at Orchid House feel safe, empowered and well supported and that staff are friendly and caring.”

Mentaur Limited was praised for promoting a person-centred culture within the home.

One relative said: "The whole place has a family feel, not like a care home at all.”

However, the report found:

The provider's systems and processes for charging people for rent and shared service charges placed them at risk of financial misappropriation of their money

People were paying towards the cost of meals, but this was not being done in a fair way

Staffing levels did not always meet the identified needs of people – some staff worked long hours over consecutive shifts without days off

Inspectors found raw poultry incorrectly stored at the top of the fridge and staff were unaware how to store this type of food

Staff's knowledge of people's needs was limited despite detailed care records

The provider did not respect people's rights. Although people's views were considered during regular resident meetings, people were not given full choice and control

On the plus side, the report also said:

People told inspectors they felt safe living at the home and their relatives said people were safe

The manager rorganised a lockable clinical waste container for outside the property following the inspection

Relatives told inspectors they were kept updated when people were involved in incidents and were satisfied how the provider dealt with these

The manager immediately scheduled training for all staff during the inspection

People were empowered to make decisions about their care during one-to-one meetings with their keyworker

Staff knew when people needed their space and privacy and respected this

You can read the full report here