Council launch probe into why care home plan failed

THURROCK Council has launched a probe to found out why an action plan to improve a borough care home failed.

After a surprise visit to Collins House in Springhouse Road, Corringham, the only care home in the borough now run directly by the council, a government inspector gave the 45 bed home a “poor” and zero star rating.

The news shocked councillor Amanda Arnold, Thurrock’s Cabinet member for Adult Social Care, who said an action plan put in place to improve the home, where residents are charged £584.92 for their care, had clearly not been implemented.

She said: “The previous action plan, instated after the last inspection, would have led to Collins House becoming a two-star home.

“An internal investigation is currently underway to determine why this did not happen. There can be no excuses and we are taking immediate action to address the requirements of the inspector.

“We are actively monitoring the situation as it progresses and expect when the follow-up inspection takes place in the new year, the Commission for Social Care will find that Collins House has improved immeasurably.”

The home’s management team has now been “revised” says a council statement and a new acting manager appointed in place of Mrs Judith Anne McKiernan who was in charge at the time of the inspection.

The inspector’s report comes in the wake of a Thurrock Gazette special investigation into all care homes across the borough in January.

At the time campaigner John Williams, director of Thurrock Disability Network called for a full-scale inquiry into the situation, saying: “The conditions some of our most vulnerable live in are appalling. Where is their dignity? In fact where are their human rights?"

The council’s Corporate Director of Community Well-being, Lorna Payne, says improvements at Collins House, which currently has 32 residents, are now well under way.

She recently visited the home and said: “I was very impressed by what I found. The action plan is well underway. Residents were happy and so were the relatives I spoke with.

“There’s a very positive feel about Collins House; a good atmosphere with friendly and clean surroundings. Obviously there’s still work to do but I am confident the staff are committed to improvement, ably led by Kay Kimmings the acting manager, and the actions we have taken are already having a positive effect.”

The surprise inspection in September, came less than a year after the home’s previous inspection when its managers were given a list of things to improve. At the time it was said the staff “lacked direction and appropriate supervision” and the person in charge needed to review manageemnt systems.

The home wasn’t officially graded on that visit.

However, the latest report, by lead inspector Michelle Love damns the home as “poor” and makes 14 “requirements” and eight “recommendations” for action.

Among her criticisms were shortfalls in the keeping of records of patient care and “inappropriate” comments about residents in records. There was a lack of appropriate training for staff, expected staffing levels were not always maintained.

Some criticism of Mrs McKiernan’s management was detailed in the report, though it was noted that the majority of staff were complimentary about her.

Residents and their families were also approached by the inspector and the home generally received praise, including the comments “the staff are always cheerful and nothing is too much trouble” and “I have nothing but praise for the care my relative receives in Colins House.”

A council statement said that all the issues identified in the latest report are already being addressed as a matter of urgency, and both residents and their relatives have been informed of the situation.