Amersham: Rushymead care home put in special measures by CQC

Rushymead Residential Care Home, Amersham, was put in special measures following an inspection by the watchdog.

After the unannounced inspection on November 16 and 22 last year, CQC rated the care home on Tower Road ‘inadequate’ overall – the lowest score available.

The key categories of safety and leadership were rated ‘inadequate’. Effective, caring and responsive categories each were rated as ‘good’.

Run by Michael Batt Charitable Trust, the home was put in special measures because of the low rating, meaning the service was given six months for “significant improvements” until a re-inspection.

The road to Rushymead Residential Care Home (Image: Google Street View)

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People were not kept safe from avoidable harm and the service did not work well with other agencies “to protect people from abuse,” the inspector found.

CQC found evidence of “unexplained bruising and broken bones,” which hadn’t been reported to the council for investigation.

Last year, records showed a physical assault on a person by another resident and a person acting in “aggressive manner”. No preventative action had been taken or referrals made.

A person did “not feel safe at night” after another person entered their room at night, the inspector said.

The inspector received a comment saying: “Residents are often not being toileted during the day and most of the time left with the same pad on since they woke up ‘til the evening.”

Another comment to the watchdog said residents had to go by with “just a quick wash” and no shower or bath for “months and months.”

“Records showed people were not routinely offered a bath or shower,” the report noted.

Relatives gave “mixed feedback” about staff.

“They really do a wonderful job there,” one relative said. Another relative said the staff will “bend over backwards to do whatever is asked of them and the regular staff seem very knowledgeable.” Staff made a difficult job look “relatively easy,” another relative said.

However, one relative said the home didn’t keep them posted amid “high turnover of staff.”

“Sometimes we find him unshaved and his hair has got a bit long,” another relative said about their loved one.  

There were “widespread and significant shortfalls in service leadership,” the report said.

The home had a “clear lack of registered manager and provider oversight and governance.”

The inspector said there was “little or no evidence” showing visits to the home by the board of trustees of Michael Batt Charitable Trust.

“Minutes of meetings held appeared to be heavily occupied by discussing home occupancy and finance, rather than quality of care and support provided to people,” the report said.

Chair of the Michael Batt Charitable Trust Alistair Mackie said in a statement: “The trustees of the Charitable Foundation take the findings of CQC seriously and have been working hard with the CQC to address their concerns particularly around reporting and governance.  We recognise that this is an increasingly regulated environment and that we have been impacted by increasing costs. 

“We appreciate and fully support the staff at Rushymead and all their hard work and dedication.”