Council-run Bedford care home 'requires improvement' after damning inspection report

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

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) made an unscheduled visit to the council-run home in June and has now published its findings.

Inspectors also said the care home’s safety and leadership ‘requires improvement’.

And the council has vowed to make changes, saying an action plan is already underway.

The CQC report said: “We have identified breaches in relation to promoting people's safety and the managers’ quality checks on the service at this inspection.”

The health watchdog also found there were shortfalls in how managers and the provider responded to accidents and injuries at the home in London Road.

It said “investigations were not thorough” and that “actions were not considered and taken to try and reduce the risk of the injury happening again”.

During the visit, CQC inspectors were also hugely concerned about the lack of staff at the home as well as the attitude of some.

Their report said: “We were not confident at times there was enough staff or staff had the right support to spend time with people, talking with them and responding to them when they needed support.”

And added: “We identified shortfalls with how staff supported some people. Staff did not respond when one person stated in an animated way, they needed support to use the bathroom.

"One member of staff continuously tried to put food into one person's mouth when they were dozing after lunch, even though they kept indicating to them to stop.”

A Bedford Borough Council spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that following a CQC inspection, Southway received an overall rating of ‘requires improvement’.

"We accept the findings of the report and have already begun to implement an action plan to address the issues raised.

"The care and wellbeing of our residents is our number one priority and we are pleased that Southway kept a rating of 'good' for 'effective', 'caring' and 'responsive.”

The home – which caters for up to 42 people with dementia – was also criticised for its ability to use medicines safely and for responding correctly to accidents and injuries.

You can read the full report here.