Meadowbank care home reprimanded by health watchdog

A health watchdog has reprimanded a care home for shortcomings in the checks it carries out for new members of staff.

Meadowbank Care Home, in Braywick Road in Maidenhead, has been issued with a warning notice by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for not meeting essential standards of quality and safety after concerns were raised about missing documentation for new members of staff.

A CQC report published last week said appropriate checks were not always carried out at the home when recruiting, with four personnel files looked at by inspectors, including that of the home manager, missing some documents required by regulations.

It follows an unannounced inspection carried out in April.

The report also raised issues with the interview and application process at the home, with inspectors finding interviews were recorded using a single, tick box sheet, with no evidence of what questions candidates had been asked and how they were fit for the job.

It also noted application forms for the home only allowed space for information on two previous jobs from applicants.

Issues raised with personnel files included a lack of satisfactory evidence of checks on an employee’s conduct in previous jobs and a need for more up-to-date disclosure and barring service (DBS) check for another worker.

Checks on documents for an employee who was a family member of the provider also found there was no recent photographs or proof of identity included, but other appropriate checks were carried out.

The report follows compliance action taken against the provider after similar problems were found in an inspection in November.

James Li, director of Meadowbank Care Home Ltd, said action has now been taken to correct the problems with the checks and documentation and the manager referred to in the report, Ma Luisa Bayani Palacios, has since left the company.