Wellingborough care home gets out of special measures but still "requires improvement", says health watchdog

The care home provider was issued with a warning notice after the last inspection in 2020 which said it needed to improve
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A care home in Northamptonshire has worked its way out of special measures and improved on its previous "inadequate" Care Quality Commission (CQC) rating, but it still "requires improvement", according to the health watchdog.

Midland Care Home, in Wellingborough, which is run by Hampton Midland Care Ltd, was inspected by the CQC on January 14 this year, with the watchdog's subsequent report published this month (February). The care home provider was issued with a warning notice after the last inspection in 2020 which said it needed to improve.

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The latest report states that in each one of the five factors which the care home is judged on - safe, effective, caring, responsive, well-led - the service "requires improvement". However, this is an improvement to the previous inspection report published in August 2020 which rated the site "inadequate", putting it into special measures.

Midland Care Home in Wellingborough (Photo:Google Maps)Midland Care Home in Wellingborough (Photo:Google Maps)
Midland Care Home in Wellingborough (Photo:Google Maps)

The CQC's latest report commented on the "safe" criteria at the home.

The report reads: "At the last inspection this key question was rated as inadequate. At this inspection this key question has now improved to requires improvement. This meant some aspects of the service were not always safe and we were not fully assured of people's safety. There was some risk that people could be harmed."

And it was a similar comment regarding the "well-led" criteria at the home. Although it had improved from "inadequate", the latest report said that leadership at the service was "inconsistent" and the culture "did not always support the delivery of high-quality, safe care."

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The report also said: "The provider and management team were open and honest when things went wrong and there was evidence of lessons learned."

A Midland Care Home spokesperson said: "We are pleased with the outcome of the recent CQC inspection, with the improved rating reflecting the improvements made at the home by the new management team, and staff body as a whole.

"Given that the home had been previously rated as "inadequate", we acknowledge that it was not possible to get a rating higher than "requires improvement" at this inspection. However, we are confident that the changes the team have made will see our next rating improve even further at the next inspection.

"We have been, and remain, fully committed to improving the home further and growing a strong, highly qualified and committed staff team to provide excellent person-centred care moving forward, as we look towards admitting more residents."

The home provides personal and nursing care to 17 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection - the service can support up to 66 people at full capacity.

To read the full report, click here.