St Mark’s Care Home rated ‘Requires improvement’ after safety and management concerns

A large Bupa care home in Maidenhead said it is liaising with the care watchdog and ‘taking proactive action’ after receiving a ‘Requires improvement’ rating.

St Mark’s Care Home in St Mark’s Road provides nursing and personal care for adults of all ages, including people with dementia or physical disabilities. It can accommodate 80 people.

After its latest inspection, the home scored ‘Requires improvement’ ratings across the board from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

This includes ratings of RI for whether the service is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

St Mark’s was rated ‘Outstanding’ overall at a previous inspection in 2019.

This most recent assessment was ‘prompted by concerns about the safety and management of the service,’ the CQC said. It identified four breaches of legal regulations related to consent, safe care and treatment, governance, and recruitment.

The report says: “People were not always fully protected and kept safe. Risks were not consistently recognised or managed in a proactive way to ensure people’s safety.

“Medicines were not always managed safely.

“People and their relatives told us they were not always involved in assessments and reviews of their needs.”

When staff assessed someone’s mental capacity, for example before giving medicine covertly, these checks were not always reviewed as often as they should be, the CQC said.

It also found that St Mark’s audits had missed some of the issues the watchdog identified during its assessment.

“Staff told us they did not always feel supported by the leadership team,” the CQC wrote.

In addition, the manager ‘did not have effective oversight’ of recruitment.

On the positive side, St Mark’s held regular meetings with people and relatives and attendees were encouraged to share their feedback.

There was also a ‘You Said, We Did’ poster and a newsletter available in the reception area, keeping people informed.

A range of activities were available for residents, including some personalised activities they had requested.

However, although the service’s management believed the home had enough staff to support everyone, the watchdog said it received opposite feedback from residents and staff themselves.

“[We heard] there was not enough staff … to respond to [people’s] immediate needs,” they wrote.

Nonetheless, residents and their families ‘generally spoke positively’ about their experiences at the service – though a few people noted that the food ‘could be improved.’

“Relatives felt people living at the service received a good level of care and that staff supported people well,” wrote the CQC.

“People [receiving care] were positive about how most staff supported them, and our observations supported this feedback.”

However, relatives told the CQC they ‘did not always feel management was visible and worked well with staff.’

Danni Davies, managing director for St Mark’s Care Home, said: “Providing high quality care is our priority and we’re pleased the regulator recognised the positive experiences of residents and relatives at St Mark’s Care Home, along with our dedicated team who work hard every day to ensure residents are safe, happy and healthy in our care.

“We continue to liaise with CQC to address the points raised and provide a full account of life at the home.

“In the meantime, we are continuing to take proactive action to maintain our high standards.”