Inspectors returned to Bexhill home amid outbreak of Covid-19 variant

A planned reinspection of a Bexhill nursing home, which was opened to alleviate pressure on the NHS, was ‘accelerated’ due to an outbreak of the coronavirus variant first spotted in Kent, according to the home’s managing director.
Bexhill Care Centre. Picture: Google Street View SUS-190314-160413001Bexhill Care Centre. Picture: Google Street View SUS-190314-160413001
Bexhill Care Centre. Picture: Google Street View SUS-190314-160413001

Assisted living company Coast Care Homes was commissioned – through government funding – to operate Bexhill Care Centre, in Barnhorn Road, as a 43-bed ‘step down unit’ to assist the NHS in March this year, with an aim to free up hospital beds during the height of the health crisis.

The unit – which opened its doors to admissions on April 20 – was first inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in August last year and, in a report published on September 15, the inspectors observed breaches of regulations and raised concerns about people’s safety, while concluding the home ‘required improvement’.

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Inspectors returned to the home on December 15 and 16 to reinspect these breaches and after being informed, by the home’s management, of the outbreak of the Kent variant of coronavirus, according to the CQC. Inspectors again said it required improvement, but did note a number of improvements had been made.

Managing director Kevin Dewhurst said he believed the reinspection was ‘accelerated’ due to an outbreak of the Covid-19 variant, which was spreading in the home at the end of November and start of December.

Mr Dewhurst added: “The inspection came in the middle of a Covid outbreak at a time when we had just implemented a new care software system.

“There are many areas that have improved since the last inspection and the report contains a number of positive statements about the care we provide and the quality of our staff team.

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“The Bexhill Care Centre has now had over 200 successful admissions in the 10 months since we opened, which is on an entirely different level to any other nursing or residential care home in the area.”

The CQC inspectors concluded the home required improvement in its levels of safety, leadership and responsiveness. Inspectors concluded not enough improvements had been made and that the provider was ‘still in breach of regulations’.

Mr Dewhurst – who also manages the operator’s care homes in St Leonards and Bexhill – said the inspection needed to be viewed with ‘context’ of an operator being given a few months to provide care to hundreds of new patients in the middle of a pandemic.

In March, during the first wave of Covid-19 infections across the UK, East Sussex County Council was tasked with finding a provider to run the step down unit after the government encouraged local health and social care organisations to commission additional bed capacity.

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Coast Care Homes took on the initial six-month contract, undertook a £125,000 refurbishment of the home – which was closed by previous owners in July, 2019 – and recruited 60 members of staff before opening the doors to admissions on April 20, 2020.

The unit was commissioned for another six months in October and management will find out this week if the contract will continue for another six months once this period is up at the end of March.