Barrington Lodge

Barrington Lodge provides nursing care for up to 44 older people, many living with dementia. At the time of inspection, 42 residents were receiving personal and nursing care. The service's recruitment processes required improvement, as the provider did not consistently obtain references or check employment history gaps in line with their policy. Additionally, the audits intended to monitor care quality failed to identify several significant concerns discovered during the inspection.

Issues identified included inappropriate pressure mattress settings that failed to prevent pressure ulcers, inadequate medicine temperature checks, the absence of a Legionella risk assessment, inaccurate fluid charts, staff members not wearing personal protective equipment, and gaps in the home's response procedures for medical emergencies such as heart attacks. The auditing systems in place were not effectively monitoring or catching these quality and safety concerns, indicating that the home's internal quality assurance processes required substantial improvement to ensure consistent standards of care.