Bedford care home out of special measures as improvements made - but action still needed

A Bedford care home which was slammed for a lack of cleaning, unvaccinated staff and “potentially abusive care” has been moved out of special measures.

Lillibet House, in De Parys Avenue, has made improvements since it was rated as inadequate by Care Quality Commission inspectors at the beginning of the year.

But changes still need to be made as the home remains in breach of some regulations.

In the commission's latest visit over two dates in July, inspectors gave the residential home – which caters for up to 30 people with dementia – a ‘requires improvement’ rating across the board.

It comes as bosses thanked staff for all their hard work to help “move things forward”.

According to inspectors from the health watchdog, the latest unannounced visit found “the provider had engaged with a care consultant to support with addressing shortfalls within the service”.

Although the report said: “Protecting people from potential harm and abuse had improved.”

Inspectors also found there was an increased risk that people could be harmed.

The home has been moved out of special measures but inspectors have highlighted that "not enough improvements had been made in other areas and the provider was still in breach of the associated regulation".

But they also noted:

All visitors were requested to complete a Covid lateral flow test and share a negative result before entering the home

All staff were observed wearing and changing PPE as required throughout the day

Cleaning had also been improved at the home and in the kitchen

Staff supported residents at mealtimes in a sensitive manner

Staff received specialist dementia training

Some of the information recorded in people's monitoring records was not recorded in a sensitive or dignified manner

A recruitment drive was ongoing – and several new staff had joined the team

Charlotte Chesyre, who runs the home, said: “We have been extremely grateful for the help and support we received from the Bedford Borough team during what has been a challenging six months.

“While there is still work to do, thanks to the hard work and dedication of our staff we are pleased to have been able to move things forward. We are also grateful to our families who have continued to be supportive throughout.”

You can read the full report here