Eastbourne care home makes improvements – but there's more work to do, CQC says

Health inspectors said a care home in Eastbourne which had been in special measures had made improvements.
Palm Court Nursing Home, Eastbourne (Credit: Google)Palm Court Nursing Home, Eastbourne (Credit: Google)
Palm Court Nursing Home, Eastbourne (Credit: Google)

In its most recent inspection, Palm Court Nursing Home in Prideaux Road, Eastbourne, was rated 'requires improvement' overall.

Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors continued to have concerns around the management of medicines, particularly in the management of agitation, and said there were still not enough 'person-centred activities' for patients.

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But during their visit to the care home in February, they found staff were kind and caring and supported patients.

It was an improvement on three separate inspections over the last three years, when it was given the lowest rating of 'inadequate' and placed into special measures.

This was over 'continued breaches of regulations' with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) taking enforcement action.

But in a report published last week, it was rated 'requires improvement' for safety, responsiveness and leadership, although it was 'good' for effectiveness and caring.

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There were 25 people living at Palm Court at the time of the inspection, despite having space for 53.

In a report published last week, the CQC said:"Since our last inspection the provider had agreed with the local authority that there would be no new admissions to the service until the health and safety arrangements were addressed."

It said in the latest inspection, 'although improvements had been made in many areas, there were still areas in relation to the management of medicines and to governance that had not sufficiently improved'.

The report said: "Concerns with the management of medicines mainly centred on the management of medicines prescribed on an as required (PRN) basis for the management of agitation as it was not always possible to see why medicines had been given. Linked with this was a lack of documentation in relation to records that demonstrated actions taken by staff to support people with behaviours that challenged before resorting to medicines.

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"We found that whilst auditing had improved in many areas these had not identified areas we found on inspection, for example in relation to the management of medicines and shortfalls in recruitment records. Further time is needed to build on the progress made and to fully embed new systems into every day processes. Improvements were also needed to ensure people were offered regular opportunities for person-centred activities.

"Significant progress had been made in relation to the management of health and safety. All equipment was now serviced and inspected regularly and the records demonstrated that when faults were noted they were addressed in a timely manner.

"Care plans provided detailed advice and guidance about how people’s needs should be met and we saw that staff were kind and caring and supported people in a way that suited their needs."

DFB (Care) Limited, the company which runs Palm Court Nursing Home, has been contacted for a comment.

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