CQC Report

Thank you for giving me the right to reply to the CQC report on Pelham House Care Home,  Folkestone. The report was published in October 2022.

About me and our Mum 

I speak as someone whose Mum has been in Pelham House Care home for 3.5 years, through  Covid and out the other side. Mum has mixed dementia (Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia).

Over the last few years, I’ve met Pelham House care staff on countless occasions. I’ve found them nothing but caring and professional. Staff look after our Mum for us, as we’re not physically able to do it any more. Pelham House is a real home-from-home. Mum is well looked after and she clearly loves the staff. 

Here’s my reaction to the CQC report. 

• Cover of the report 

The cover states: 

• ‘is the service safe?’ – inadequate. 

• ‘is the service well-led?’ – inadequate. 

This is not the Pelham House I see every week when I visit. And it has never applied to  Pelham House over the years. Even during the 2020 lockdown with window visits and pod visits, I’d never have described Pelham House care home in those terms. The description as  ‘inadequate’ deeply upsets me. 

I’ve met the owner and manager frequently. I’ve found them to be nothing but professional,  caring, honest and accommodating. 

It’s deeply distressing to read CQC statements that are so at odds with my experience. I visit weekly, unlike the CQC assessor. I have always felt that mum was well looked after and safe. 

2. Knock-on effect of the report: 

It was also deeply upsetting to see the BBC TV news item and BBC website story about  Pelham House Care Home. Can you imagine what it’s like as a daughter to, out of nowhere,  suddenly see sensationalist news stories about your Mum’s care home in the media? I felt powerless and voiceless. I took out a complaint against the BBC and it toned down the headline.  

I don’t understand how the CQC has the right to inform the press and media of its findings without first showing them to us, the families. It would also make for a more rounded report if you interviewed families to take our views into consideration when compiling a report.  

To right this wrong, how about setting up a meeting between the CQC and us, the families whose loved ones live in Pelham House Care Home? 

Summary of findings (page 2, 3, 4) – my reaction:

• “The service was regularly using agency staff”  

Is the CQC not aware, post-Brexit, of the massive recruitment problems faced by the whole care sector? Pelham House has kept us abreast of the post-Brexit recruitment  crisis throughout and the proactive measures it is taking to work around this, including recruiting staff directly from abroad.  

• “Face masks not being worn in communal areas.” 

Well, lateral flow tests trump face masks. The owner and manager explained to us that staff were doing lateral flow tests before every shift and this was monitored strictly.  My understanding is that, by August 2022, lateral flow tests were not legally required in care homes under the regulations, so this was an example of Pelham House Care  Home going the extra mile. I’m pleased staff prioritised lateral flow tests.  Face masks were worn during personal care but not in communal areas. This suited our Mum, who is profoundly deaf and, despite her hearing aids, still needs to lip read.  Masks (even transparent ones) hamper communication and Mum is easily confused. I  trust the staff to use their judgement on mask-wearing with Mum. Staff always have  Mum’s best interests at heart. 

• “Risks to people had not been consistently assessed, monitored and reviewed.” So that’s just paperwork lagging behind. And I trust the staff to prioritise Mum’s in-the-moment care and well-being over filling in lengthy, over-the-top risk assessment forms. Let’s put an end to this tickbox culture and get things in proportion. 

• “… resulted in breaches of regulation” and “failed to maintain … improvement”.  Again, please let’s not hype this up.  

I’m confident that the owner and manager have the right systems and processes in place.  

On family Zoom meetings, they’ve repeatedly shown us action plans they’re working through.  

And, if there is a breach of a minor regulation and no one was harmed, then must the care home be so heavily criticised? Especially if it’s just that paperwork is lagging behind. 

I trust the staff to use their own judgement day to day. This trust is based on 3.5 years of communication, observation and working together. 3.5 years is a long time.  

I do just wonder… Don’t you think we would have moved Mum to another care home if we didn’t believe that Mum was unsafe or not well looked after at Pelham House  Care Home?  

• Can I suggest that in future the CQC focus its assessments on more of the things that  really matter to families and residents: 

• Are residents well looked after? - Yes, at Pelham House, they are. 

• Are residents happy? - Yes, at Pelham House, they are. 

• Is it a cheerful, welcoming, ‘home from home’? – Yes it is – that’s why we chose  Pelham House.  

The CQC has no idea how Pelham House has changed my life and my sister’s life for the good.  

Before Mum tried out Pelham House Care Home in 2019, our Mum was suffering frequent falls at home and out and about. And she was hospitalised with panic attacks around 12 times in 3 months in 2019. We were serial users of the 999 service and A&E. As a family, we were in crisis – until Pelham House Care Home came along.

My sister and I were both battling full-time jobs to pay the bills, caring for mum and also battling our own health issues. We, as daughters, are in our 60s now. Without Pelham  House, neither of us would have a life or a livelihood. End of. 

I’d be grateful if you could reply to the points I’ve raised.  

I’ve tried over the last few years to contact the CQC about its unfair reports of Pelham House  Care Home. I’ve tried contacting the CQC social media (Twitter and LinkedIn). I’ve tried writing directly to the CQC. I’ve tried emailing the CQC. 

I’ve never managed to get a response from the CQC. Surely the CQC is as accountable to us,  the families, as it is to the Department for Health and Social Care and Number 10 Downing  Street?  

The CQC makes me feel powerless and voiceless. The CQC has caused me a huge amount of stress from its reports on Pelham House Care Home over the last 2 years. The care home has repeatedly asked the CQC to work with them as partners, and this request has been turned down. 

If the CQC wants to talk to me about any of this, please email and make a phone or Zoom appointment.