Bognor Regis care home is 'improving' but still has a way to go, report says

Saxby Lodge Residential Care Home, in Victoria Drive, Bognor Regis, has been under special measures since August 2021, but is now simply deemed to 'require improvement' following a recent Care Quality Commission Report (CQC).

The care home provides residential support to 11 patients living with conditions associated with advanced age, frailty and dementia, though it maintains the facilities to care for 19.

Inspectors evaluated the care home across five areas: safety, quality of care, effectiveness, responsiveness and leadership. Responsiveness and leadership were the two areas most in need of improvement, according to the report.

Inspectors found that there was a deficit of engaging activities to keep residents stimulated, despite the care home having hired an activities coorindator

Despite the new hire, inspectors said the coordinator did not 'fully consider people's interests and hobbies'. Inspectors told how they witnessed a patient 'sitting in the same position for seven hours with little contact with staff, other than to be asked if they wanted a drink of their meal." They also found that many residents did not enjoy the group activities which had been scheduled, choosing instead to stay in their rooms and read or watch television.

Even so, staff were found to have made enough improvements to the responsiveness of their care that the facility is no longer in breach of regulation 9 of the Health and Social Care Act, which relates to a patient's right to 'person centred care and treatment that (is) appropriate to their needs and (reflects) their personal preferences.

The management culture at Saxby Lodge had improved since the previous inspection, but a number of changes still needed to be made.

"Since the last inspection, the service has experienced a period of considerable change. Although significant improvements have been made to address previous shortfalls identified at our last inspection, these improvements were yet to be fully embedded and sustained," the report said.

Despite the improvement, then, the report still concludes that "the service management and leadership was inconsistent. Leaders and the culture they created did not always support the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care."

Despite these shortfalls, the report makes clear that Saxby Lodge is making strides in the right direction, with measurable success in a number of other areas: "Since the last inspection the management team and the staff have made significant improvements which has raised the standard of care people received and the overall governance of the home. Some improvements were still required to ensure the provider was always working in accordance with government and best practice guidance to ensure people consistently received person centred care."

Click here to access the report. Read more

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