Chief executive speaks out after Haywards Heath care home told to improve

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited Oakwood Court in Amberley Close on March 22.

The care home, which is part of Sussex Housing & Care – a not-for-profit housing association for older people in Sussex – was rated ‘requires improvement’.

The CQC report said some aspects of the service were not always safe and there was limited assurance about safety.

It added that there was an increased risk that people could be harmed.

Tracy Evans, chief executive for Sussex Housing & Care, said: “We have taken the results of this routine inspection very seriously and although we are very disappointed, we welcome the inspector’s feedback.

“As soon as we were made aware of the areas in need of improvement, we were quick to take action.

“The inspector recognises in the report that we had implemented changes by the second day of the inspection.”

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Ms Evans said the care home had put an ‘action plan’ in place following the ‘requires improvement’ rating.

“As an open and transparent organisation we have already published the report and our action plan on our website,” she said.

“We are very proud of Oakwood Court, our staff and the service they provide to our residents as well as the interactions the care home has with the local community.

“We are committed to providing the best possible care and look forward to the CQC revisiting us later in the year to see the further improvements we’ve made.”

People and relatives provided positive feedback about the care, staff and management at Oakwood Court, the CQC report said.

Residents were treated with dignity and respect by kind and caring staff and staff make sure residents are involved in decisions about their care.

Ms Evans added: “We were pleased that the CQC said that our residents receive care that is kind and compassionate and that we support residents to be as independent as possible.

“The CQC report revealed many positive findings, including that residents live in a safe environment, there is a long-standing and there is a well-established management team.”