Horsham care home criticised by health regulators

Skylark House in St Mark’s Lane, Horsham, has been rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ by the Care Quality Commission following an inspection.

The care home provides personal and nursing care for up to 82 people, many of whom have dementia, along with younger people with disabilities.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission made a spot-check in June and, in a report just out, said: “People were not all receiving the social stimulation they needed to support their well-being, we identified this as a breach of regulation."

People, their relatives and staff all said that staff were often too busy to spend meaningful time with people unless it was to provide support with personal care.

In their report, commission inspectors said: “People's comments included: ‘They (staff) are in such a rush’, but they come if you call."

"They are short staffed they rush about, but they are still kind and they answer bells quickly."

The inspectors said: “We observed some group activities and opportunities for socialising were available to people. Those people who were taking part appeared to be engaged and enjoying themselves. For those who were not taking part, and when activities were not happening, there was little occupation for people.”

But, the inspectors said they found that staff were knowledgeable about people's needs and systems were in place to ensure people received the medicines and care they needed there were enough suitable staff to care for people safely.

They said people spoke highly of the staff and described them as kind and caring.

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At its last inspection in 2018, the care home was rated ‘Good.’

Angi Knight, regional director for Care UK, which runs Skylark House, said: “We pride ourselves on providing high quality, kind and safe care to all residents. We accept that there were some lapses in our processes when the inspectors visited the home in June.

"We put an action plan in place immediately following their visit and we’ve already seen notable improvements. I will continue to work closely with the team on the implementation of the remaining items on the action plan and I’m confident these measures will ensure a return to our former exceptionally high standards.”