Finch Manor Nursing Home has been under investigation since January 2023
Finch Manor, Dovecot, Liverpool.(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A Liverpool care home has finally been taken out of special measures but has been warned about its failure to meet regulations over handling of medicines. For almost two years, Finch Manor Nursing Home in Dovecot has been under close scrutiny by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The regulatory body conducted its latest inspection of the site over a two week period in October last year after a litany of complaints raised about the Finch Lea Drive home previously. Despite additional concerns regarding legal regulations of medicines, the facility – which was caring for 66 people at the time of the investigation – has moved from a rating of inadequate to requires improvement.
As a result, it is no longer in special measures. Officials from the CQC said demonstrable change had been implemented since an inspection in 2023 identified areas of the home were “visibly unclean” and some food products were either left undated or out of date.
A report issued by the CQC said governance systems had improved since their last inspection, but some areas needed further improvement. This included systems to ensure accidents and incidents were appropriately managed and need to be more robust.
Additionally, significant improvements had been made to ensure people were receiving safe care and treatment. Up to date risk assessments and care plans were in place and these were regularly reviewed.
However, aspects of medicines management were not safely controlled, resulting in the warning notices. The CQC said it had asked Lotus Care officials for an action plan in response to the ongoing governance concerns found at this assessment.
Family members generally felt people were safe living at the home and said they would speak with staff if they had any concerns. People knew how to complain and who to complain to.
Despite this, not everyone felt their complaints drove any real sense of change within the service. People generally liked the staff who were described as kind and caring however, consistently officials were told there was a high turnover of staff.
The report added: “Although regular staff knew people well, new staff didn’t always fully understand their needs. Some people told us there were sometimes not enough staff available to support them in a timely manner and they had to wait for staff to respond to their needs.
“Our observations showed generally staff were caring and respectful, however we observed a couple of occasions when staff did not follow people’s care plan. On one occasion, staff communication with a person caused them a short period of distress.”