Inspectors keep Fareham care home in special measures despite '˜improvements' in new report

A CARE home where residents suffered serious injuries remains in special measures, despite inspectors stating that improvements are being made.
Merry Hall Care Home in FarehamMerry Hall Care Home in Fareham
Merry Hall Care Home in Fareham

Merry Hall Nursing & Residential Home in Kiln Street, Fareham, was placed into special measures last February when the Care Quality Commission found that equipment at the facility had caused injuries to residents in the home.

The management team at the centre was subsequently fired and replaced, with inspectors returning to the care home last October to see if any progress had been made.

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They discovered that despite improvements being made to the way staff were recruited, how medicines were managed and how staff assessed the risk to people’s care, in the category of whether it was ‘well-led’, inspectors labelled it ‘inadequate’ – meaning the home remains in special measures.

The new report said: ‘This inspection found that insufficient improvements had been made to take the provider out of special measures as they were still rated inadequate in one key question.’

It explained that due to the home not having a manager registered with the CQC, it could not pass that part of the inspection, although, it added the manager was in the process of registering.

The report added: ‘Some improvements had been made to the assessment and management of risk 
associated with people’s care although further work was needed.

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People raised concerns about staffing levels and our observations reflected that these did not always meet people’s needs.’

In response to the new report, a spokesperson for Buckland Care, which runs Merry Hall, said: ‘Since the introduction of our new manager several months ago, the staff at Merry Hall have been working tremendously hard alongside social services and the CQC to bring Merry Hall back into total compliance.

‘The manager is in the process of being approved by the CQC and there have been remarkable improvements in all areas.

‘We are confident that this progression will continue until we reach a “good” rating.’