Stone Gables Morley: Leeds care home 'requires improvement' as CQC report finds medicines ‘not managed safely'

Stone Gables, in Street Lane, Morley, was previously rated “good”, but lost that status in a recent report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Inspectors who visited the home in June found that the provider’s “oversight of the service was ineffective”, with managers failing to provide documents during the inspection.

The director of W & S Red Rose Healthcare, which runs the residential home, said the company was committed to improving – and that changes in management would be made as a result of the inspection.

It comes after another care home owned by W & S Red Rose Healthcare less than two miles away was rated “inadequate” by the CQC, having been found to have “no effective leadership”.

Stone Gables care home offers support to elderly people across two floors, including people with dementia. It has accommodation for up to 40 people, although there were only 23 using the service at the time of the inspection.

One of the main criticisms in the CQC report, dated July 27, was the management of medicine, which is partly what prompted the inspection.

It said: “Guidance was not followed when changes were made to people’s medicines and time specific medicines were not given at the correct times.”

Stock checks showed that some medicines had not been given as prescribed. Inspectors also found that manufacturers’ directions were not always followed and that “medicines which must be given at specific times were not always given at those times”.

The report made clear that while there was no evidence of people being harmed at the time of the inspection, unsafe management of medicines placed people at “increased risk of harm”.

Other findings included risk assessments not being readily available for staff to read and follow, and there being a feeling that there was not enough staff on shift to meet residents’ needs.

However, the findings were not all negative. Inspectors heard positive feedback about activities in the home. Relatives were complimentary about care staff, and the report also said that residents were able to have “maximum choice and control of their lives”.

The care home’s owner, Shabir Ahmed, described the report as “disappointing”, but said that work had already started to improve the service.

He added: “We are working alongside the CQC and social services in Leeds. A quality control system is being put in place. Improvements and decoration work is being started.

“It is a small family-run business and we are committed to improving the service. We are also in the process of making changes in the senior management of the home.”

Mr Ahmed also said that the auditing system would be improved as a result of the inspection.