Sutton care home where residents 'not treated with dignity' is out of special measures

In July The Fieldings, on Huthwaite Road, was rated 'inadequate' by the Care Quality Commission in all five aspects – whether it is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

The inspection found that the “home was in a very unhygienic state and people were not protected from the risk of infection”.

It also found that people were “exposed to the risk of abuse and violence” and residents’ “right to privacy was not upheld”, leading to concerns about safeguarding.

However, the CQC returned to the home in October and has now rated the care home as ‘requires improvement’ across the board – taking it out of special measures.

James Woods, managing director of Prime Life, which runs The Fieldings, says staff are hoping to bring this “difficult period” to an end.

He said: "The previous enforcement action followed a period of instability at the home and was fully acknowledged by the company, with immediate action taken to remedy.

“Thanks to the hard work of all of the team at The Fieldings, the home has gone from strength to strength and is now taking new admissions, bringing this difficult period to a positive conclusion for all at The Fieldings.” Inspectors said they will continue to monitor information they receive about the service until they return to visit for another inspection.

The recent report added: “Staff didn’t always respect people’s dignity and privacy but they were working on ways to ensure that people were as independent as possible. End of life planning was not followed through with people’s wishes. One person had asked to have a will written and this was not supported. Staff referred to people in a respectful manner. Some felt that the staff supported them well, others thought some staff didn’t support them as well. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way. The environment was safe, clean and suitable for people’s needs.”