Sheffield care home “in disrepair” with water leaking in electrics, missing toilet seats and holes in walls
A Sheffield care home has been placed in special measures following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Wood Hill House, on Grimesthorpe Road, was rated inadequate in a report published last week (July 2), following three inspection days in January.
The report reads: “We found the physical environment in the homes to be clinical, bare, and in significant disrepair.
“Evidence of maintenance work required throughout the building included holes in walls exposing insulation, wallpaper peeling off walls, a bath coming away from the wall with exposed pipework, missing toilet seats, and drawer fronts missing from wardrobes.
“The manager had not acted on these issues.”
A leaking kitchen ceiling where water was coming through the electrics was identified in April 2023, but still in place during the inspection in January of this year.
The report states “minimal improvements” had been made to the clinical environment since the previous inspection.
It also notes that staff did not support people “in their best interests”, and had out of date training around complex needs.
Evacuation plans for fires or other emergencies “lacked detail”, including not covering how staff would support someone in a wheelchair to evacuate.
The report reads: “The provider had not fully acted on feedback from professionals for continually evaluating and improving the service or for assessing, monitoring, and mitigating risks to the safety and welfare of people.”
At an inquest on January 23 into the death of Jacqueline Weaver, who died at the home, managing director Linda Meston said the home had introduced scenarios training, new emergency call procedures, and choking-specific first aid training for all staff since the incident.
The inspectors, who visited on January 9, 11 and 13, wrote: “Of 10 mandated face to face training sessions including moving and handling, positive behaviour support, choking, hydration, and first aid … 9 training sessions showed extremely poor uptake levels by staff.”
Staff failed to record when they added thickeners to drinks, which may be prescribed to assist people with swallowing difficulties, so it was not possible to tell if drinks had been properly thickened.
Some medicines were unavailable or not in stock.
They were not always given safely, and one person was given out-of-date eye drops.
The report reads: “We found no evidence that people were harmed at the time of the inspection because the harm is not always immediate, however, people were placed at increased risk of harm by unsafe management of medicines.”
Relatives gave mixed reviews of the home, with one saying they “feel like they are going to a friend’s house”, and another saying they no longer visit on weekends due to difficulties getting in.
The CQC inspection report states the home was in breach of six legal regulations in total.
If it does not make the necessary improvements in six months, the provider can move to close the home.
Thirteen people were staying at Wood Hill House at the time of the inspection, out of a possible capacity of 83.
Next to it are two other care homes, Wood Hill Lodge and Wood Hill Grange, both also run by Portland Care.