Elderly at risk over staff levels at Black Country nursing home – report

Frail pensioners at Springfield House Nursing Home in Codsall were left alone with no means of calling for assistance, left unsupervised in bedrooms, and their nutritional needs were not effectively monitored, inspectors reported.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found a series of failings when they visited the Oaken Drive home, which can look after up to 36 people, in July this year.

The report found the residents' safety and welfare was compromised by a lack of staff supervision. The service did not respond to people in a timely way and residents had to wait long periods of time for the care and support they needed, it added.

One person told inspectors: "You often have to wait for a long time to be taken to the toilet and sometimes it is too late and this is very undignified".

The report states: "The staff we spoke with were unhappy with the provision of staff and they all felt that they were constantly working understaffed. One person said: "The staff situation here is very worrying. We are all feeling at rock bottom. Staff morale is very poor."

Another person said: "We do not have any time to talk to residents or to do anything other than provide basic care, and sometimes you do not feel that things are being done properly."

The CQC reported: "One person was shouting and banging on the side of the bed to attract attention for five minutes and we had to intervene and ask the person what they wanted.

"They then asked for their buzzer which had been left out of reach. We gave this to them and they pressed their buzzer and waited for another five minutes for this to be answered.

"We also observed that a person's bathroom was very unhygienic and soiled."

The home has had to provide a report to the CQC to demonstrate how it intends to improve.

The operator, Four Seasons Health Care, said: "Following a critical inspection in August we implemented an improvement plan to address the CQC requirements. To date we have introduced more rigorous monitoring to ensure our processes and procedures to support quality of care are strictly followed.

"We are conducting an on-going recruitment programme to ensure that our staffing levels are compliant with the CQC and we have also made new staff appointments including a new chef. There was a subsequent inspection in September in which the CQC had noticed improvements at the home and we continue to liaise closely with the local authority and the CQC on the status of our improvement plan."