Bilston care home placed into special measures after further 'deterioration in standard of care'

Mill House, in Mount Pleasant, Bilston, was inspected by officers from The Care Quality Commission (CQC) in August.

They carried out a focused, unannounced inspection after receiving information and concerns from callers.

After the inspection the overall rating for the service dropped from 'requires improvement' to 'inadequate'.

Ratings for the safeness and well being also dropped from requires improvement to inadequate. Caring and responses were not inspected and remain as good.

The service is now in special measures, which means it will be kept under close review by CQC to keep people safe and re-inspected to check sufficient improvements have been made.

Mill House is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 24 older people, some living with dementia. At the time of the inspection the service was at full capacity.

Andy Brand, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said: “When we inspected Mill House, we were disappointed to find a deterioration in the standard of care people were receiving.

"We found widespread and significant shortfalls in leadership, and the culture they created didn’t assure the delivery of high-quality care.

“It was concerning that risks to people weren’t always managed safely. Where people had risks identified when they were admitted to the home, there was no assessment or actions to manage those risks.

"Some people showed signs of being distressed or agitated, and could potentially be a risk to themselves and others, however there was no guidance for staff on how to support those people which could result in them or others coming to harm.

“There were also no reviews of people's risk assessments when incidents happened, meaning there were no processes in place to prevent similar occurrences.

"Some people who had repeated falls, had no reviews in place to discuss what could be implemented to prevent them happening again.

“Inspectors saw that people weren’t protected from potential abuse.

"Injuries to people such as bruising, grazes and lumps had been identified by staff and documented in body maps. But they hadn’t been investigated or reported to appropriate organisations which could put people at risk.

“After our inspection, we reported our findings to Mill House so they know where we expect to see rapid improvement. If sufficient progress is not made, we will not hesitate to take further action to ensure people’s safety.”

The inspectors did find people received enough to eat and drink and were told they enjoyed the food. And recruitment processes were found as safe to ensure only suitable people were employed.

The Express and Star has reached out to Mill House, Bilston for comment.