Care home near Horsham taken out of ‘special measures’

The Granary in Guildford Road, Broadbridge Heath, had originally been placed in special measures after it was rated ‘inadequate’ by the Care Quality Commission.

But following a new inspection by regulators, the care home has now been given an improved rating, though, says the commission, it still “requires improvement.”

The Granary is owned and run by Sussex Health Care, a company currently at the centre of a police investigation following the deaths of 13 people at nine of its homes.

The Granary itself provides nursing and personal care for up to 41 people with physical and learning difficulties, and a range of neurological conditions, in four different homes at its site in Broadbridge Heath.

But in a recently published report, the Care Quality Commission said there were only four people living in one of the homes when they carried out an unannounced inspection.

Among their findings were that activities for residents were not consistently evaluated to see if they met people’s needs.

“People wer not supported to regain life skills or set goals and aspirations,” the inspectors said.

“The care planning process required further work to ensure people’s emotional, sexuality and spirituality care needs were being met.”

They added that residents’ engagement with the local community needed strengthening and further work was needed to ensure maintenance of accurate documentation.

However, they said that staff “demonstrated warmth and kindness to the people they supported.”

A spokesman for Sussex Health Care said: “We are very pleased that the CQC’s latest report highlights the recent improvements and progress that has been made in supporting those we look after.

“We pride ourselves on creating a caring environment for our residents. As such, it is heartening to see that is this reflected by the CQC in their report, which acknowledges how residents are treated with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect and notes our staffs’ commitment to delivering high quality, responsive and compassionate care.

“We have taken on board the wider findings from the report and are implementing measures to improve the service further.

“We continue to invest in the home and are committed to enhancing the care and support we provide to all our residents.”