Sheringham care home placed in special measures after latest CQC rating

Sun Court Nursing Home in Morris Street Sheringham has been rated as inadequate and told it must improve or face action by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The home, which is run by Cephas Care, provides personal and nursing care to people aged 65 and older. It was previously rated as requiring improvement and the latest rating is the second time since Cephas Care took over the home that its rating has fallen.

When inspectors visited the home in May 2021, they found a number of failings. The home was found to be unsafe, inspectors said infection control was lacking and improvements had not been made since the last inspection.

They also found that the "quality of the services of care and management of safety and risk had continued to decline."

The CQC's report states: "People were placed at risk of harm. Care planning and records of daily care provided were incomplete and inaccurate."

Inspectors said pressure on staff impacted the ability of the registered manager to complete parts of their role that promoted people's safety and "there was not a culture of using lessons learned to reduce the risk of incidents happening again."

The report said: "The provider had not been proactive or effective in addressing longstanding known shortfalls in staffing and the quality of care provided."

Rachael Robertson, Cephas director for adult and community services. Picture: Stuart Anderson (Image: Archant)

Rachael Robertson, one of the directors of Cephas care said the company was "extremely disappointed" in the outcome of the report and remained committed to "supporting improvements."

She said the home had taken steps to ensure that staffing levels increased and despite the challenges the home has remained Covid-free throughout the pandemic.

"Recruitment and retention throughout Covid has been incredibly difficult for us and the care sector as a whole, along with a number of staff isolating 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," she added.