Care home which lost staff who did not want to be vaccinated told to improve

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

A care home has been ordered to improve after inspectors found agitated elderly residents left in front of a TV in the lounge.

Workers at the Joybrook care home in Braxted Park, Streatham, were sometimes too busy to speak to people living there, according to a report by the care watchdog.

Inspectors said some residents became agitated and shouted out during their visit because of the lack of interaction.

A worker admitted that just one carer was responsible for looking after 13 residents for most of the afternoon.

The carer said the home needed more staff.

Residents were put in danger of falling from uneven flooring, while the home’s décor was criticised as old fashioned by inspectors.

Joybrook was given a rating of “requires improvement” following the visit on January 31 and February 4.

A CQC report published on March 17 said: “People were seated in the lounge area and did not have any interaction with others which caused some people to become agitated and shout out.

“The televisions in both areas of the open plan lounge and dining area were on, one in which could not be heard and the other had the volume turned up loud.

“Throughout the two-day inspection we observed multiple occasions whereby people were seated in the lounge without any interaction from staff.

“A staff member told us, ‘For me personally I think we could do with another carer. There are three on duty in the day, but one finishes at 2pm.

“That leaves just two staff. One will do the cooking and that only leaves one on the floor.’”

Inspectors noted that some people at the home were distressed by another resident’s behaviour. The report said staff didn’t appear to know how to diffuse the situation in a safe way.

But the report praised staff at the care home for trying to do their best for residents.

Relatives of people in the home told inspectors they believed workers at the home treated their family members with respect.

The report said: “A relative said ‘I believe the staff are caring. I can see this by the interactions they have with people and also on FaceTime when they sometimes join in the call.”

Janet Dehaney, manager of Joybrook, said the home was short-staffed because some workers had left in October and November 2021 to avoid new rules requiring care home staff to be vaccinated.

She said: “For the whole of 2020 and most of 2021 we were the only care home in Lambeth that did not have an outbreak of Covid.

“It was in December 2021, with the emergence of Omicron, we had an outbreak. This triggered an inspection by CQC and they came at the end of January to carry this out.

“Apart from the Covid outbreak in December, we were also unfortunate to lose some long-standing staff in October and November due to them not wishing to be vaccinated and also getting frustrated with how the staff working in care were being treated.

“Certain areas needed attention due to wear and tear and work had already been scheduled for those areas, but was delayed due to Covid.  The plan is now being implemented and work is being done as we speak.”

Pictured top: Joybrook care home in Streatham