COUNCILLORS have heard how a previously failing care home has turned its fortunes around in the space of nine months.

Primrose Court, a 20 bed care home, in Normanby Road, South Bank, for older people went from being given an overall ‘inadequate’ rating by care watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following an inspection in August 2020 to being rated as ‘good’ in April this year.

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The CQC had identified a lack of adequately trained and competent staff and also said there had been a delay in reporting safeguarding concerns.

All new admissions to the facility were temporarily suspended.

Primrose Court was previously told to make major improvements to food hygiene standards following an environmental health inspection in January 2019, which highlighted out of date food being kept in a fridge, dirty flooring and no hot water to kitchen sinks.

Redcar and Cleveland Council identified some of the more recent failings as being a direct result of uncertainty around the home’s ownership, which had been up for sale for some time, along with a lack of stable senior management.

Primrose Court was made subject to a protocol for responding to and addressing serious concerns by the Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Board, a report prepared for the council’s adults and communities scrutiny committee said.

The Board, which has a number of statutory partners including local councils, police and the Tees Valley Clinical Commissioning Group, holds organisations to account for their safeguarding activity and has established a Tees-wide framework to strengthen local arrangements.

A ‘serious concerns’ action plan aimed at making improvements was put in place with the care home subsequently being sold to a new owner in October.

At a review meeting in January it was confirmed that there had been no negative feedback since a previous meeting in November and no further safeguarding referrals.

Significant improvements had been made in a number of areas, including a review of staffing rotas to ensure adequate cover on all shifts and increased training for senior staff, while health and safety concerns were addressed.

Also in January the previous manager stepped back from their duties with the homeowner said to have encountered problems establishing adequate managerial cover on a consistent basis so further improvements could be made.

Primrose Court remained under the serious concerns process until April when a new registered manager was appointed.

The report said: “Since the appointment the care home has become much more stable with positive feedback being reported from visiting professionals regarding the attitude of staff and general appearance of the home.

“The CQC carried out a focused inspection at Primrose Court in April, with specific focus on previous regulation breaches.  “The home was subsequently awarded an overall ‘good’ inspection outcome by the CQC.

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“Comments from inspectors highlighted good engagement from staff towards residents and marked improvements in care planning and record keeping.”

Members of the committee heard that the action plan had been completed and there was “clear evidence of significant and sustained improvements” to care quality standards and leadership.

This led to Primrose Court eventually being removed from the safeguarding board’s serious concerns protocol in August.

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