A care home in the Hampshire town of Winchester has been criticised by the health watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), after a recent inspection revealed that the home was failing to meet 9 out of 10 essential standards of care.
The St Cross Grange care home was inspected by CQC officers in April 2013, just a month after its manager was struck off for failing to prevent an elderly woman choking to death back in 2009. The inspectors found that of its 10 ‘essential standards’, St Cross Grange was only meeting one.
A report has now been released following the inspection, in which the CQC outlines problems such as:
• A lack of staff
• Residents moved to a new building before it was ready
• Lack of effective leadership and communication
• Complaints had not been responded to
However, it seemed that care training standards at the home were relatively good. The report made note of residents saying that some staff “put in 150%” and were “brilliant” at their jobs.
Following the report, the deputy chief executive of Greensleeves Home Trust, which operates the home, commented on the CQC’s comments. Stuart Cross said of the period during which a new building was being completed:
“We recognize that there were some management and communication issues during this time.
“We resolved these by transferring one of our most experienced and respected managers to St Cross Grange while we recruited a permanent home manager.”
