Catalogue of shame at Tatchbury Manor Nursing Home
SOCIAL services are refusing to send patients to a Hampshire nursing home after inspectors found it was providing sub-standard care in squalid conditions.
Their damning report failed Tatchbury Manor Nursing Home in 15 out of 16 categories highlighting safety concerns, unhygienic practices, inadequate care plans and inaccurate records.
The inspection was carried out by industry regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
CQC staff found that the privately run home in Tatchbury Lane, Netley Marsh, which has 38 beds for people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, was failing to ensure “safe and appropriate” nursing.
The report says examples of poor practice included people being pulled by their arms, incorrect use of hoists and slings and scalding water in one of the bathrooms.
It also says: n The home was failing to take appropriate action to manage and control the spread of infection.
• Residents were not always provided with a clean, safe and homely environment.
• Not all the staff had received the training needed to deliver care safely.
• Residents were not always able to access external healthcare.
The CQC is planning to carry out a follow-up inspection and says the home could be closed down if it has failed to make satisfactory improvements.
The report reveals that the inspection took place following complaints about the standard of care at the home.
It adds: “There were serious concerns that some of the practices did not safeguard people’s safety. There were concerns about the poor environment and the lack of an effective monitoring system to assess risks and produce an action plan to manage those risks.”
Other worries related to the proper use of equipment and the ability of staff to deliver care in a “safe and consistent manner”.
Last night Hampshire County Council confirmed that its social services department and other health care bodies were no longer sending patients to Tatchbury Manor.
Councillor Felicity Hindson, executive member for adult social care, said: “Our professional staff have been working closely with the owner of the home, health colleagues and the Care Quality Commission to address the concerns.
“While this will be an ongoing process, immediate plans have been put in place to ensure people who use the service are well looked after.”
A CQC spokesman defended its decision not to close the home following the inspection.
“That may sound like the easy option but closing a home can cause more problems than it solves and is always a last resort,” he said.
“Frail, elderly people don’t like the uncertainty and huge change that closing a home imposes. It can even result in people dying.”
A previous CQC report published in 2009 rated Tatchbury Manor as “good”.
Tatchbury Manor Nursing Home is owned by Sewah Singh Adkar and managed by Helen Woodman.
The home failed to comment to the Daily Echo despite requests to do so.
