Great Oaks care home in Bournemouth 'requires improvement'

Great Oaks care home in Poole Lane, Kinson, has lost its ‘Good’ rating given last year following an unannounced visit by the Care Quality Commission (CGC) in which several legal, staffing, and governance issues were identified.

The previous 'Good' rating came after consecutive ‘requires improvement’ ratings were given in 2018 and 2019.

Recent visits by the CQC were conducted over a three-day period in May where inspectors found that residents “did not always have the necessary legal authorisations to be living at the home”.

According to the report, this meant that some people were being “deprived of their liberty, unlawfully”. It was further reported that the home’s manager made such necessary applications immediately during the inspection.

They also said that the service did not actively seek feedback from others in order to drive improvements within the service. This meant that staff “did not always feel appreciated, valued and listened to”.

Great Oaks care home in Poole Lane, Bournemouth

Further issues around recruitment processes and distribution of medicine to residents were also identified.

Despite this, inspectors found the care provider was “responsive to address the shortfalls found” and that they had taken “immediate measures together with long term planning actions” to make good on its ‘Requires Improvement’ rating.

It was additionally reported that residents and their relatives “felt safe” at the home and gave compliments to the staff whose levels of care and safeguarding were praised. Staff were found to be well trained and all accidents or incidents were regularly analysed and discussed.

One resident said: “[The staff are] like a family, they can see you at your best but at your worst as well.”

The main improvement for the home to make, found inspectors, is in its aforementioned governance systems following the failures in some the legal authorisations of residents.

A CQC inspector concluded: “We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good.”

A spokesperson for Encore Care Homes said: “We regret that the care provided to our residents has dropped below our usual high standards. Following the inspection in May, we are already taking the necessary steps to make sure that our care team receives the training and support needed to provide a higher level of care to our residents.

“Since the first day of the CQC inspection, our senior leadership team has devised and implemented a comprehensive action plan to immediately address the concerns raised.

“Residents and families can be assured that our care remains at the forefront as an absolute priority. We aim to offer the highest standards of care, and have received several positive reviews in recent months, with an overall score of 9.4 on www.carehome.co.uk.”