NOTTINGHAMSHIRE has more failing care homes than anywhere else in England, according to a new report.
The study shows that 36 per cent of the county's homes failed at least one check when last inspected by the Care Quality Commission.
A total of 123 of the county's 345 residential and nursing homes did not meet national standards set out for things like patient safety, staffing levels and hygiene.
But the city and county councils, which have contracts with many of the homes, say the numbers are high because of a "trailblazing" monitoring system which flags up problems more often so they can be tackled quickly.
They say that some of the failings flagged up by the commission are considered to be of low risk to residents.
But Jayne McErlean, who has managed several homes in the region, and will be manager of the £5 million Alder House Care Home in Nuthall when it opens next month, said: "I am aware it is a problem in Nottinghamshire. It's absolutely awful."
The news comes after a number of scandals surrounding the county's care homes – with several having contracts with councils suspended and enforcement action taken against them.
The next worst area, according to the study, was Derbyshire, where 99 homes had at least one failing.
A spokesman for the county's Healthwatch organisations, which represent patients, said that concerns had been raised about the quality of local homes for some time.
SAMANTHA Ely was so committed to improving standards at Leen Valley Care Home, in Hucknall, that she moved in for three months – even sleeping in the staff quarters.
The care home's manager took the reins almost a year ago and has already turned performance around markedly.
Just 12 months ago, the home, formerly Silverdale Care Home, had its contract suspended with Notts County Council and enforcement action was being taken against it by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
But now, inspectors have passed it in almost every area, with only a data management issue – which the home's owner says is now fixed – between them and full compliance.
"It was quite bad when we arrived," Miss Ely said.
"It's taken a lot of hard work. It was a case of listening to the staff, working out their capabilities and a big thing was to work on the care plans.
"We got feedback from families. I've rewritten all the menus and restructured the rota. When I came, the staff didn't even have uniforms.
"We installed CCTV and a routine for meals and things were put in place."
Miss Ely was formerly manager of a home in Lincolnshire and said she was not shocked by the problems with care homes in Nottinghamshire that the study revealed today highlights.
"It does not surprise me," she said. "When I moved here, I started to look at the homes around me and a lot aren't fully compliant. In Lincolnshire, I think 95 per cent were. I did start to think 'why aren't they here?'"
The county's care homes have come under significant scrutiny in the last two years – with authorities and health chiefs being forced to take significant action.
In September 2012, the county council suspended contracts with three homes with concerns raised over standards of care. And in June last year, the local authorities suspended their contracts with three more.
Just four months later, one of those homes – St Andrew's Lodge – in Riber Crescent, Basford, had its registration removed by health inspectors and was shut down.
Owner Methodist Homes said it had made "considerable and sustained effort" to "significantly improve the home" but was forced to close as improvements could not be made within timescales demanded by the CQC.
Two more homes which have consistently hit the headlines for poor standards are Burkitt Care Centre, in Melton Road, West Bridgford, and Eton Park Care Centre.
Burkitt Care Centre closed earlier this year after inspectors failed it in every category that they check.
And the latest inspection results published for Eton Park Care Centre showed that it had failed to meet standards in four out of the five CQC categories – although its owners say improvements are being made.
David Messenger, managing director of Elder Homes, which owns both homes, said: "The Burkitt was closed several months ago after careful consideration. It was one of the oldest services in our group, and that brought with it several challenges. The group also identified there was a need to change its senior management team and, as a result, quality across the group has significantly improved.
"Eton Park was judged at its last inspection to have mostly improved against those inspected outcomes and compliance continues to improve with the continued help and support of CQC and the local authorities."
In January, the county council set up a task force dedicated to tackling the problem of struggling care homes. Muriel Weisz, a county councillor on the health and wellbeing board, announced the creation of the task force – which offers help and advice to care homes which are failing to meet standards – at the turn of the year. She said that, despite the damning statistics revealed today, improvements had been made.
She said: "It's ongoing. They continue to work with homes where there had been concerns."
One care home manager told the Post that it would take a significant amount of hard work at each failing care home to turn the situation around but that it ultimately came down to investment and staffing.
Jayne McErlean, who will be manager of the £5 million Alder House Care Home, in Nottingham Road, Nuthall, when it opens next month, has experienced working in a home with problems herself, having taken control of a non-compliant home previously – and turned its performance around.
She said: "It's about taking responsibility. It's very rigorous quality assurance and auditing. From the care side its very person-centred and must be about trying to bring the community in the home. We try to form links with schools and things like that.
"Avery healthcare [which owns Alder House Care Home] invest a lot of money in training and developing their own staff. If you don't invest in your own staff, you've had it really."
She added: "I worked in a non-compliant home. I arrived at it two-and-a-half years ago and then slowly it became compliant. It's about hard work and recruiting the right staff. You have to create a positive atmosphere."
The report can be found at www.caringhomes.org/quality-of-care/
The ten worst performing counties
THE study that revealed Nottinghamshire's care homes were the worst-performing in the country was compiled by care provider Caring Homes.
The results showed that 123 out of the county's 345 homes had failed at least one check during their latest CQC inspection.
There are 32 counties where 15 per cent or less of care homes failed checks, compared to Notts' figure of 36 per cent. The ten worst-performing counties are:
Nottinghamshire – 36 per cent
Derbyshire – 33 per cent.
West Midlands 26 per cent.
Dorset – 21 per cent.
Hertfordshire – 20 per cent.
Leicestershire – 20 per cent.
Northumberland – 19 per cent.
Staffordshire – 18 per cent.
West Sussex – 18 per cent.
Northamptonshire – 17 per cent.
The study cover 15,963 care homes nationally and included inspections carried out up to June this year.
The Skylarks success story
FOR Patrick Atkinson, running a successful care home is all about the staff.
The manager of Skylarks, at Church Farm, pictured, in Cotgrave – which passed every category during a CQC inspection last year – says times are tough in the industry but that success can be had if staff feel valued and are well-trained.
He said: "I think it's a very difficult sector at the moment but the main ingredient is staff retention and having inspirational and positive leadership.
"We think everything needs to come from the top, and you need to keep your staff onboard and make people feel empowered. We want people to enjoy coming to work – if you're happy in the job, you are giving out better care.
"We listen to people, we try to get them involved and it's about having a positive leadership team."
He added: "It's phenomenally hard work and at the moment nobody is really getting any thanks. We need to change the culture in the country where people think this is a worthwhile job.
"People should be proud to say they look after somebody and this is what they do."
And for Patrick, there is a potential solution to the problems with care homes in Nottinghamshire.
He said: "I think the councils are trying their best to help improvement. My feeling is you should work with people that are doing it properly. We can work with other homes and try to mentor them to do better."
How the Care Quality Commission works
THE Care Quality Commission visits care homes at least once every two years – but will increase the frequency of inspections if concerns are raised.
If a home doesn't meet standards set by the national body, then a number of actions can be taken.
In moderate cases, a warning notice is issued to a home and a follow-up inspection will take place.
If improvements are not made, the CQC can take civil and/or criminal action – including suspending the home's registration.
In severe cases, the health watchdog can take the home's owners straight to court.
Last month, a Mansfield care home was closed because of concerns over the health and safety of residents.
The CQC took legal action to stop the owner running Redlands Care Home.
The reasons for the action were not fully revealed but health bosses confirmed that they related to a commercial dispute between a third party and the registered provider.
As a result of this, the CQC said, it decided urgent action was needed to ensure that people using services were protected from the impact of that dispute.
In response to the study which found Notts had the worst-performing care homes in the country, a statement from the CQC said: "All our judgments on care homes are reported on our website.
"We are introducing more rigorous inspections and these will increasingly be based on information we collect on the likely risk of poor care.
"Where we find services are not meeting these standards, we take appropriate action to drive through improvements and we later return to inspect these services to check on whether the necessary improvements have been made.
"We are soon to publish our annual report, the State of Care report, which looks at the picture of all adult health and social care services across the country."
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