Latest Inspection
This is the latest available inspection report for this service, carried out on 21st June 2010. CQC found this care home to be providing an Adequate service.
The inspector found no outstanding requirements from the previous inspection report,
but made 1 statutory requirements (actions the home must comply with) as a result of this inspection.
For extracts, read the latest CQC inspection for The Firs Nursing Home.
What the care home does well The home has improved the medicine management to a safe standard What the care home could do better: The home must ensure that prescriptions are ordered in time so that no person goes without their prescribed medicine. Random inspection report
Care homes for adults (18-65 years)
Name: Address: The Firs Nursing Home 745 Alcester Road South Kings Heath Birmingham West Midlands B14 5EY one star adequate service The quality rating for this care home is: The rating was made on: A quality rating is our assessment of how well a care home, agency or scheme is meeting the needs of the people who use it. We give a quality rating following a full review of the service. We call this review a ‘key’ inspection. This is a report of a random inspection of this care home. A random inspection is a short, focussed review of the service. Details of how to get other inspection reports for this care home, including the last key inspection report, can be found on the last page of this report. Lead inspector: Debby Railton Date: 2 1 0 6 2 0 1 0 Information about the care home
Name of care home: Address: The Firs Nursing Home 745 Alcester Road South Kings Heath Birmingham West Midlands B14 5EY 01214303990 Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address: Name of registered provider(s): Name of registered manager (if applicable) Ms Janet Alice Murrell Type of registration: Number of places registered: Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : care home 25 Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 Over 65 0 mental disorder, excluding learning disability or dementia Conditions of registration: 25 Age: Mental disorder, excluding learning disability or dementia (MD) - age 40 and above. The maximum number of service users who can be accommodated is: 25 The registered person may provide the following category of service only: Care Home with Nursing (Code N) To service users of the following gender: Either Whose primary care needs on admission to the home are within the following categories: Mental disorder, excluding learning disability or dementia (MD) 25 Date of last inspection 0 1 0 4 2 0 1 0 Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 2 of 8 Brief description of the care home The Firs is a care home, which provides nursing care and support to 25 adults with enduring mental ill health. The home is located close to the Maypole area of Kings Heath. It is close to local shops, post office, banks, and leisure facilities. It is located on a major trunk road into Birmingham, which also has good motorway connections. A regular bus service passes the home enabling easy access to Kings Heath and the city centre. The home was first registered in 1987. The Firs consists of the original house, and a newer extension. The home offers accommodation over three floors and has both single and shared bedrooms. No rooms have en-suite facilities. The home has a passenger lift enabling access to all floors. The home has an attractive rear garden. Copies of previous inspection reports are available in the home for people to read if they wish to. The service user guide did not record the range of fees to live there, the home would therefore need to be contacted directly for up to date fee information. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 3 of 8 What we found:
The pharmacist inspection lasted two hours. Five peoples medicines were looked at together with their Medicines Administration Record (MAR) charts and supporting documentation regarding medicines. One nurse was spoken with and all feedback was given to her and the new manager recently appointed. The reason for the inspection was to check compliance with the Statutory Requirement Notice left following the last pharmacist inspection on 1st April 2010 due to the poor medicine management seen. Four requirements also remained outstanding at that inspection. The home was required by 1st June 2010 to 1 Make arrangement for the recording, handling, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the care home. 2 To make arrangements to ensure that medication administration records are accurately maintained. 3 Make arrangements to ensure that all medication is administered as directed by the prescriber. The Statutory Requirement Notice was met at this pharmacist inspection together with the four outstanding requirements. One new requirement and one recommendation was left following this inspection. The home stored all medicines in a locked room. Medicines currently in use were stored in a locked medicine trolley that was used to transport medicines to some of the people in the home. Surplus medicines were stored in locked cabinets. The temperature was maintained well below the recommended limits to ensure their stability. All prescriptions were seen prior to dispensing and a copy taken to check the MAR chart and medicines received into the home. Two nursing staff recorded and checked any hand written entries on the MAR charts and the quantities of all medicines were recorded enabling audits to take place The home had installed a quality assurance system where by the medicines dispensed in traditional bottles and boxes were counted on a daily basis. This had ensured that the practice of administering the medicines as prescribed and recording accurately what had occurred had improved to a safe standard. Audits undertaken during the pharmacist inspection indicated that the medicines had been administered as prescribed and records reflected practice. One error was seen where nursing staff had failed to carry over the correct balance at the beginning of the MAR chart so it was not easy to demonstrate that these medicines had been administered correctly. However due to the homes auditing system it was possible to demonstrate that they had been. The nurse was keen to improve this practice so this error would not occur in the future.
Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 4 of 8 One medicine had not been ordered in time so was recorded as out of stock. This is of serious concern as they home did not have enough medicine for one person on the premise to administer for seven days. The nurse on duty had a good knowledge of the medicines she handled and also the clinical conditions of the people she looked after. All medicines prescribed on a when required basis had a supporting protocol for nursing staff to follow to ensure they are only administered when actually required as the doctor intended. What the care home does well: What they could do better: If you want to know what action the person responsible for this care home is taking following this report, you can contact them using the details set out on page 2. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 5 of 8 Are there any outstanding requirements from the last inspection? Yes £ No R Outstanding statutory requirements
These are requirements that were set at the previous inspection, but have still not been met. They say what the registered person had to do to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards.
No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 6 of 8 Requirements and recommendations from this inspection:
Immediate requirements: These are immediate requirements that were set on the day we visited this care home. The registered person had to meet these within 48 hours.
No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action Statutory requirements These requirements set out what the registered person must do to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must do this within the timescales we have set.
No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action 1 20 12 All prescribed medicines must be available for administration This is to ensure that all medicines are administered as the doctor intended to ensure the health and well being of the service user 21/07/2010 Recommendations These recommendations are taken from the best practice described in the National Minimum Standards and the registered person(s) should consider them as a way of improving their service.
No Refer to Standard Good Practice Recommendations 1 20 It is recommended that the actual start quantity of all medicines is recorded on each new Medicine Administration Record (MAR) chart as well as the audit chart and the time of day any audits undertaken is recorded. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 7 of 8 Reader Information
Document Purpose: Author: Audience: Further copies from: Inspection Report Care Quality Commission General Public 0870 240 7535 (telephone order line) Our duty to regulate social care services is set out in the Care Standards Act 2000. Copies of the National Minimum Standards –Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) can be found at www.dh.gov.uk or got from The Stationery Office (TSO) PO Box 29, St Crispins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1GN. Tel: 0870 600 5522. Online ordering from the Stationery Office is also available: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop Helpline: Telephone: 03000 616161 Email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk Web: www.cqc.org.uk We want people to be able to access this information. If you would like a summary in a different format or language please contact our helpline or go to our website. © Care Quality Commission 2010 This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part in any format or medium for noncommercial purposes, provided that it is reproduced accurately and not used in a derogatory manner or in a misleading context. The source should be acknowledged, by showing the publication title and © Care Quality Commission 2010. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 8 of 8 - Please note that this information is included on www.bestcarehome.co.uk under license from the regulator. Re-publishing this information is in breach of the terms of use of that website. Discrete codes and changes have been inserted throughout the textual data shown on the site that will provide incontrovertable proof of copying in the event this information is re-published on other websites. The policy of www.bestcarehome.co.uk is to use all legal avenues to pursue such offenders, including recovery of costs. You have been warned!
