Bristol care home must make urgent improvements

Following an unannounced inspection, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has warned a Bristol care home it needs to make “urgent improvements”.

Sunnymead Manor, in the Southmead area of Bristol, was told it needed to take steps to “improve cleanliness and hygiene and protect people from the risk of infection”.

Inspectors found the home was not providing “safe, effective, caring, responsive or well led” care.

The visit revealed:

•     The home was not clean
•     It had an unpleasant smell in most areas
•     Shared showers were not clean with tables and chairs “dirty and sticky”
•     Systems to prevent cross infection were not followed
•     There were no records to show cleaning schedules had been followed for the previous two months

Inspectors also found the care home was failing to meet national standards in eight other areas including care planning, privacy and dignity, record keeping, nutrition, supporting staff, protection from abuse, acting on complaints, and monitoring the quality of the service.

A CQC spokesman said it had already returned to follow up its most urgent concerns.

“We will return again in due course to check that Sunnymead Manor has made all the changes we require. If we find that this home is not making enough progress, we will consider using our legal powers further to protect the people who live here.”

In a statement Cheshire-based Four Seasons Heath Care said it believed it had made “significant improvements”.

“We are sorry that the home was not compliant with all criteria when it was inspected three months ago. The situation is very different today,” a spokesman said.

“We have taken the CQC requirements and recommendations very seriously.”