Cannock care home 'must be further improved'

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published its latest report for Marlyn House in Blackfords, Cannock, stating it needs to improve in four out of five key areas.

The facility, on Cannock Road, caters for up to 18 people including dementia sufferers.

Inspectors had demanded bosses recruit more staff at a previous visit and while this time around they noted improvements had been made, they stated more needed to be done.

• Click here to read the full CQC report

The latest report said: "At the last inspection, the provider was in breach of Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 because there were insufficient staff to meet people's needs at all times.

"At this inspection, we found that some improvements had been made but further action was still needed."

Other concerns were raised about the handling of medicines.

The CQC said: "We found that the provider did not have a suitable system to ensure people's medicines were reviewed regularly, for example one person had declined a medicine to relieve the symptoms of heartburn and records showed it had not been administered for more than four weeks."

The area of responsiveness was rated 'requires improvement' – with activities for residents highlighted as an area also in need of addressing.

The report stated 'although some people read a book or knitted, we observed that most people spent the majority of the morning sitting in the communal lounge with no stimulation'.

The one area where the home did excel, and was subsequently rated 'good', was for its care.

In response to the report, care home owner Renu Ghai said: "There were only minor issues, which were raised and we have already put an action plan in place to address what was said."