Owners of ‘poor’ Cumbrian care home say sorry

The owner of a Silloth care home has apologised to his elderly residents after inspectors said the care they were being given was not good enough.

Good Companions has been stripped of its three star ‘excellent’ rating and is now ranked ‘poor’ by the Care Quality Commission.

The social care watchdog has warned Mark Newby that failings in his services are putting the old folks’ health and safety at risk.

Cumbria County Council pays the fees for some of the elderly who live at the home.

A spokesman said the progress of an action plan to bring it back up to standard will be closely monitored.

He added: “Our top priority is to ensure that residents at the home are receiving the appropriate care.”

CQC inspectors found that the plans which determine what kind of care Good Companions residents receive were inadequate.

Medicines were not managed properly and there was evidence to suggest some doses had not been administered.

There had been two ‘extremely serious’ incidents between residents which had not been reported to social services or the CQC, which is a breach of regulations.

The report explained that the manager had been spending a considerable amount of time away from the home.

Staff, who had not received all the necessary training, had not been passing on information about residents or complaints from their relatives.

The building itself was criticised for being way below national minimum standards.

There was damp on the walls, mould in the shower area and taped up windows which could not be opened.

There were also concerns that there weren’t enough cleaners or enough carers on night duty to look after residents.

Mr Newby told the News & Star that staff were bitterly disappointed by the CQC rating – especially since the home received the highest three-star rating at its last inspection.

He said that all of his team are completely focused on addressing the problems identified by the CQC.

Mr Newby added: “Hopefully everyone with regular contact will know that Good Companions strives to deliver an individual high quality service.

“Unfortunately the recent report indicates we have fallen below expectations particularly with regard to some aspects of our original building, with communication and with some of our recording practices.

“We fervently hope there has not been an actual reduction in the quality of personal care received by our residents.

“As owner of Good Companions I would like to apologise to each and every one of my customers and to assure and reassure you that no stone will remain unturned until we are judged to be excellent again.”