A specialist residential home in Hove has been told that it “requires improvement” after an unannounced inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Cloverdale House, in Vallance Gardens, was rated as good when it came to being caring, effective and responsive but it requires improvement overall – and in relation to being safe and well-led.
The CQC said in its report published last week: “Cloverdale House is registered to provide personal care and support for a maximum of 11 adults with learning disabilities and additional complex needs such as autism, epilepsy and behaviours that challenge.”
The residential home – run by Aitch Care Homes (London) Limited – had 10 adults there when the CQC inspectors turned up in May.
The accountable person and responsible individual was Michelle Jane Whiting, the report said, adding: “Cloverdale House requires a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service.
“Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the service is run.
“The service had not had a registered manager in post since February, however, there was a newly appointed manager who had submitted their application to become registered manager and their application was in progress.
“People did not always receive their medicines as prescribed. The safe management of medicines was not always consistent and there were times when there was no suitably trained staff available to administer ‘as required’ medicines. This was identified as a breach of regulation.
“Staffing levels were not always maintained. The provider had calculated the number of staff required on a daily basis but rotas demonstrated, and staff told us, that these staffing levels were not always achieved and this is an area that needs improvement.”
But the report also said: “Staff supported people gently and with kindness (and) encouraged people to be independent and work towards personal goals.”
And it added that at one point during the inspection: “There was a homely, family feel.”
A spokesman for Aitch Care Homes said: “We are working with the Care Quality Commission to improve the areas identified by them as requiring improvement at Cloverdale. We are pleased that it was recognised that the service was rated as ‘good’ when it comes to being caring, effective and responsive.
“At the time of the inspection the CQC were processing the application for the registered manager. A suitable candidate was in post and identified to them in April, before the inspection.
“Finding suitable staff for 24-hour caring roles involving adults with complex care needs is always challenging but we ensure that at all times we are delivering the levels of support we are contracted to deliver. We recognise the dedicated and hard work of the staff at Cloverdale in providing a vital service for the families of those living there.”
I worked here over a year ago. And all the above is true. And with alot of fight for the residents rights, i had no other option but to leave the company.
The inspectors were very generous with the rating! Staffing has always been the problem in this home. They have had some good, hardworking, polite and extremely carrying folks working in this place who would move mountains for the residents. The truth is that the company and higher management don’t listen to concerns of their employees regarding stress, efficiency and hours. There are no incentives or appreciation. There have been times when those 10 residents had to be supported by unacceptably low number of support staff because of the company’s greediness to allow to draft extra help from care agencies. As a result staff get overworked, stressed and they burning out. The company seem to prefer to see amazing staff and managers go rather than help them to tackle the issues.
I also used to work there over a year ago. First of all, Aitch Care homes was taken over by Regard well over a year ago! Since Regard took over, things have declined considerably! While the staff genuinely care about the residents and work to their best abilities, the management team, especially higher up the hierarchy such as regional managers, don’t give a damn about their staff or residents! For them its a business and all about the money. When I still worked there, we constantly asked for help, especially staff levels wise, but were always told we had to safe money. They did not care about the safety of the residents and staff. It is a real shame what has become of this place! I loved my job there, but the sheer lack of care and consideration from the higher managers forced me to leave!
It is a money making excercise. Pure and simple! Exactly the reason why I left the company and unfortunately it’s the residents who suffer. Some great homes and wonderful mangers but poorly run by greedy senior managers
In the last year and a half more then 20 staff members have left !That says a lot about the conditions ,stress and higher management !Support workers are constantly abused by the challenging behaviours,residents family members and the company !A very challenging inviroment ,such a specialised field for minimum pay!More then a half of the staff are male so being a female staff means a lot of pressure as most of the residents are females and require female staff, day by day nursing care even though the house it supposed to be residential .
Maybe the CQC should make more visits unannounced,they were definitely to kind !
More than 20 members of staff have left in the last year! That says a lot about the company! They made it all about money, it is a shame for the people who live there.
To be honest in regards, to the company and the current management at Cloverdale, the CQC report actually pastes over a lot of cracks and makes it sound better than it is. I have professionally liaised with staff (who are genuinely hardworking and passionate) and the company on many occasions. Regard as a company and their higher management have never displayed anything other that callous greed and disregard to the well being of their staff and service users. I would love to regale some incidents and situations that have come to my attention however it would be an inconsiderate breach of confidentiality
Good staff have been driven away, problems have been swept under the rug, service users have been disrespected and robbed of dignity due to deliberate under staffing and unless an issue impacts the higher management financially, they simply do not care happens at that poor house.
The report is a minor reflection of the demoralized and disenchanted staff that try to support people at Cloverdale and unless it changes current management and higher management and their general approach to care and support, its staff and service users are going to slip further and further into dangerous grounds
I’m sorry but all previous comments completely overlook the neglect to clients caused by staffs time being taken up by certain residents with extreme challenging behaviour who do not belong in a home with other wonderful service users. During my last few months at Cloverdale, I was spat at, punched, bitten, I had faeces thrown at me and left work black and blue on multiple occasions… When reported to management I got told to “deal with it”.. A fantastic staff member was wrongly taken to court for assault for defending him self in a situation he was not properly supported In, then when found not guilty was unfairly dismissed. The CQC should simply have to read months of incident reports to find the root of the problem.
I am sorry to disagree with you, but this fantastic staff you are talking about was really not fantastic with the residents he liked. This member of staff only wanted to support the residents that he had a personal preference for and it was very obvious that he neither liked the resident who displayed very challenging behaviour, nor did he want to work with him. The way he responded to the challenging behaviour was very provocative and unprofessional and instead of taking himself out of the situation he would throw more salt into the wound! He was clearly unsuitable for the job and dismissing him was the right thing to do. But all of this aside, this challenging resident improved tremendously over time, which demonstrates the hard work and dedication staff put into their work. Despite that, he does not live at Cloverdale anymore, but the main problem- the carelessness and greediness of the higher management team, remains!
Sorry, meant to say was only fantastic with the residents he liked!
Hi Truth,
The certain residents with challenging behaviors don’t live there any more and haven’t done for a while.
The CQC report deals with the current issues at Cloverdale and not your personal gripe from working there a while ago.
The issues are to do with poor management, inadequate and reluctant staffing and general lack of support for the staff, that may of also rung true when you were there but we need to focus on the current state of affairs I’m afraid
The member of staff you talk about should of never been taken to court true but wasn’t unfairly dismissed as his behavior towards a certain resident was dangerous, abusive and blatantly not part of their guide lines. Maybe you have only had one side to this story. When the resident gave a statement that matched up to the witness reports, it was clear what had happened.
I think the last people who should be blamed in these sort of homes, are the people who live there regardless of their behaviors and to be honest unless you were one of the service users parent, doctor, advocate, care manager, social worker or funding authority I don’t believe you have the right experience, qualification, authority or right to say who does and doesn’t deserve to live in their home.
Someone call the fire brigade
Someone just got burned
This is very sad to read. I worked at Cloverdale for several years and left in 2014 for a lot of the reasons being described here. The comments about understaffing sound very familiar. Poor staff retention, insufficient recruitment and pressure to limit agency use have been an issue In this service for a long time.
I hope that ACH/regard, whoever it is now, wake up to what this service needs and start taking care of their staff team. Without a stable motivated and valued staff team there is no way the service users can receive the care they deserve. What this will mean is money being put into the service and experience makes me doubtful this will happen. More likely they will respond with the blame and scapegoating that we have seen in the past.
I have some fantastic memories from working with the residents at Cloverdale and it is gutting to know that the standard of care they are getting is not good enough.
I worked at Cloverdale for a few years. Sadly over the years the reputation has been tarnished. It was a fantastic environment for both residents and staff over the years. I’m sure that one day Cloverdale house will return to its former glory!