Working at Firtree House Nursing Home

Hiring checks missed gaps in every one of the seven staff files checked, even though they fixed it right after the inspection.

Of the 7 recruitment files we reviewed all of them had unexplained gaps in employment. We spoke with management about this who immediately took steps to correct this.

Pressure mattress settings were wrong for five people and thickener powder was left out on a bedside table where people could reach it.

We found 5 of these were set incorrectly according to the person’s most recent weight... a pot of thickening powder on 1 person’s bedside table... not being stored in line with an NHS England safety alert.

Medicine storage wasn't always following best practice with excess stock on open shelves and expired items in first aid kits.

excess medicine was stored in an open shelf which is not in line with best practice... items in the 2 first aid boxes had expired. This included Microporous tape which expired in December 2019.