Worthing care home ‘extremely disappointed’ by CQC inspection rating

An inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in February rated Camowen, a 20-bed care home in Parkfield Road, as requiring improvement in safety, effectiveness and leadership.

It was rated ‘Good’ for being caring and responsive.

The March 22 report found one patient suffered 11 falls between October 2018 and February, one resulting in a serious injury, after being inaccurately assessed at being at ‘low risk’ of falls.

The home was criticised for not referring the resident to the Local Authority’s falls team.

However, medicines and residents were considered to be managed safely, and the report said ‘lessons were learned when things went wrong’.

Care was considered to be personalised, timely and effective, with generally well trained staff.

Staff were also reported to be responsive to residents’ needs and provided ‘personalised care to meet people’s needs, preferences, interests and give them choice and control’.

There were concerns around how consent for treatment and medication was attained, with some permissions from family members having lapsed.

The home’s registered manager, Ley Little, defended the home and said all issues raised had already been rectified.

“At Camowen, we always strive to provide the best and most compassionate quality of care possible,” she said.

“We are extremely disappointed by the outcome of the CQC inspection which we believe is not reflective of the service and the care we provide. It was very unfortunate that on the day of the inspection, the registered manager was absent from the home as her husband was undergoing major surgery in Guildford. We had just appointed a new deputy manager who had only started at the home the previous week.

“We have already addressed all the issues raised in the report. We always carry out infection control training and a refresher course has already taken place. Falls are always acted upon in a timely manner.

“Regarding the CQC report, we were already working with outside professionals to manage the person’s risk of falls. We will now also always make a referral to the falls team. Our consent forms and audits have already been reviewed.

“At Camowen, we pride ourselves on the care and the service we provide. We continue to invest to ensure that Camowen is one of the best homes in Worthing. We have recently introduced a 1940s reminiscence room and a new hairdressing salon. We always receive compliments about our staff, our standard of care, our food, our activities and our surroundings.

“We have always had ‘Good’ CQC reports and we are committed to regaining our ‘Good’ rating as soon as possible.”