Milton Keynes care home rated inadequate as staff had ‘poor understanding’ of residents needs
A Milton Keynes rehabilitation home has been put under special restrictions by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after a disappointing inspection.
The CQC has rated Thomas Edward Mitton House inadequate and placed it into special measures, following an inspection in April and May.
Thomas Edward Mitton House supports up to 16 people who need personal or nursing care, primarily on a short-term basis for rehabilitation after a brain injury. The service was supporting nine people at the time of inspection.
The home is run by The Disabilities Trust, trading as Brainkind, and this was the first CQC inspection since they took over. The home was rated as requires improvement under the previous ownership.
The home was rated inadequate for categories: safe, effective, and well-led. It rated the home requires improvement for: caring and responsive.
Restrictions have now been enforced on the home, requiring that they update CQC monthly on improvements. It has been put in special measures, which involves close monitoring to ensure people are kept safe while these improvements are made.
The home has also been given a structured timeframe so services understand when they need to make improvements by, and what action CQC will take if this doesn’t happen.
Hazel Roberts, CQC deputy director of adult social care in the east of England, said: “We found Thomas Edward Mitton House wasn’t always supporting people’s recovery as safely or effectively as possible, because staff had a poor understanding of their needs.
“In some cases, people arriving from hospital had to return quickly because the home couldn’t meet their needs. This should have been identified by these assessments before they moved in.
“And because staff weren’t always clear about people’s goals, they didn’t always support people to move towards them. For example, people weren’t always supported to move around on their own if they could, and these missed opportunities to build up independence could slow their recovery.
The CQC deputy director added that leaders lacked oversight and hadn’t always acted when things went wrong. They said several recent changes to the home’s management had also impacted oversight during the transition.
Inspectors also found that staff didn’t always respect people’s privacy. Some spoke about people’s medical details in communal areas where they could be overheard. They added that staff didn’t always manage people’s medicines safely, as some care plans were missing guidance on when people needed them.
On the other hand, there were some positive takeaways from the inspection.
Hazel continued: “However, staff, relatives, and people living in the home spoke positively about the new management team. They reacted constructively to our feedback and started implementing improvements immediately.
“Some individual staff knew the people in their care well, and most people told us staff were kind. This is good practice which leaders must build on.
“We’ll continue to monitor the home closely to ensure improvements are made promptly, and that people are kept safe in the meantime. We won’t hesitate to take further action if we are concerned for people’s safety.”
You can find out more in the full inspection report.