Care home’s new owners told to improve as rating drops

A north Norfolk care home has been told it requires improvement less than a year after it was taken over by a new owner.

Sun Court Nursing Home, in Morris Street, Sheringham, was rated good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in its previous report in June 2018.

The CQC said the systems for keeping people safe at the home were not robust, and they had been told about a lack of staff and low morale.

On September 30 last year, Ipswich-based Cephas Care became the registered operator of the home, which cared for 25 people when inspectors visited on August 27.

Rachael Robertson, Cephas’ director for adult and community services, said though they were disappointed with the rating, the pandemic had made it difficult to recruit staff, and a programme of improvements had begun.

MORE: Company with low ratings at two homes takes over third care facilityShe said: “Whilst we are naturally disappointed with the outcome of the CQC inspection, we are very pleased that the report recognised this process had begun and the excellent relationships the carers have with the residents at Sun Court Nursing Home.

“Recruitment and retention during Covid has been incredibly difficult for us and the care sector as a whole, a number of staff have been in isolation and shielding which has led to fluctuating staff levels within the home.

“Recruitment has been difficult during Covid due to a fear of staff wanting to work within high risk areas such as care and nursing homes, however we are now starting to see an improvement.”

Ms Robertson said Sun Court had remained Covid-free throughout the pandemic.

The CQC’s report said: “People and staff told us they felt there were not enough staff to meet their needs. The provider was in the process of addressing this.

“Staff told us morale was low and they did not always feel listened to. People’s care plans and records were not person centred and did not provide guidance for staff on how people’s specific needs were being met.

“The systems for keeping people safe were not robust, this included how risks were assessed and mitigated, this was in the process of being addressed.”

The CQC also said they were told staff were kind and caring, and there were systems in place for staff to receive feedback, and residents concerns were being addressed.