Gosport care home celebrates 'good' rating after being placed in special measures

Workers at the Alverstoke House Nursing Home, in Somervell Close, were ‘devastated’ after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) branded the site ‘inadequate’ in January, placing it into special measures.

In a report the CQC said there were ‘significant concerns regarding infection prevention and control procedures.’

It came following a ‘requires improvement’ rating the previous January.

Care home owner, Andrew Hudson, said: ‘Having struggled to make improvements in our service through the pandemic we were devastated to receive an “inadequate” in our CQC inspection.’

He added: ‘We had residents who went to hospital with existing medical conditions and returned with a positive (Covid) test.

‘We were really pleased to have protected all our other residents thanks to strict infection prevention control measures in the home.

‘However, we found it extremely challenging having residents returning to us with positive Covid test results and no tests available to test other residents or staff.

‘This was compounded by the scarcity of face masks; we had to fight hard to obtain sufficient quantities to keep staff and residents safe, but we managed it.

‘As well as sourcing adequate PPE, staffing was a major challenge at times, I recall a particular low point was having 10 staff members self-isolating at one stage due to Covid symptoms.’

But the home has turned itself around by the time of another inspection in September this year. The report noted ‘significant improvements in all aspects of the service.’

SEE ALSO: Care homes faced ‘nightmare’ situation at start of pandemic

It said: ‘During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made.

‘The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions.

‘Therefore, this service is no longer in special measures.’

Mr Hudson said: ‘Our staff work so hard to make Alverstoke a special home by the sea and long may that continue.

‘We will never take “normal” visits for granted again, and appreciate having PPE available whenever we need it and will continue to work relentlessly to keep our good rating.’

At the time of the most recent inspection 14 of the 29 beds at Alverstoke were occupied.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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