A DAMNING report has highlighted how staff shortages which led to a number of unwitnessed falls at a Hereford care home breached the Health and Social Care Act.

The information was revealed in a report compiled by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), following a visit to Charles Court Care Home, run by Amore Elderly Care Limited, in January.

The regulator said the home in Saxon Gate, which has a nursing unit and a dementia unit, ‘requires improvement’ overall as well as in all the five key areas of being safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

The breach of regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act was in relation to staffing, the report states, with the provider having ‘failed to deploy sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s care and treatment needs effectively’.

Ahead of the inspection, the home had told the CQC that three people had sustained serious injuries from falls during December 2016. However, during the visit, CQC inspectors were told there had been a total of 21 reported falls during the month of December 2016 alone, of which 13 were unwitnessed.

“Two of the serious injuries reported were also as a result of unwitnessed falls. One nurse we spoke with told us that because of the low staffing levels there was a lack of staff monitoring in corridors,” the report said. “They made reference to people wandering into each others rooms and the lack of monitoring had potentially been a factor in falls.”

Another concern raised by the CQC was that people were not always provided with food and drink which supported them to maintain a healthy diet, with limited choices of meals.

Leadership at the home lacked any ‘clear strategy’ in relation to staffing levels, it added.

However, a spokesman for the home said the CQC report was being taken seriously and a ‘robust action plan’ was now in place, overseen by senior management, to ensure all the issues it raises are fully addressed.

“Staff have already received additional training, including in nutrition and safety, a system is in place for recording accidents and falls, and a new home manager has recently been appointed to lead these changes,” the spokesman said. “We continue to work hard to ensure the home meets all the needs of the people living there and the safety and wellbeing of our residents continues to be our top priority.”

CQC inspectors did find people were supported to take their medication as prescribed and that registered nurses and the deputy manager were ‘knowledgeable and clinically aware’.

Staff also, the report stated, understood the ‘Deprivation of Liberty’ safeguards and checks were carried out before staff began work at the home.