A Northumberland care boss has thanked the "angels" who "worked tirelessly" to help turn around a care home formerly rated inadequate and deemed unsafe.
Birkinshaw Manor in Bedlington - previously known as Baedling Manor - was hit with a damning Care Quality Commission inspection report in 2020, and even investigated by both the police and Northumberland County Council over safeguarding concerns. But now, a new inspection has validated improvement work carried out by an entirely new management.
The home's operator has changed - it is now run by Vital Care Services North East - and new manager Nicola Undeldorf was brought in around 18 months ago to bring the home up-to-scratch. After an inspection in January this year, inspectors have confirmed they're pleased with the progress made.
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The home is now rated good across each of the five areas - being safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led - that the CQC examines. Two years ago, it was inadequate in all five.
Manager Nicola told ChronicleLive she was delighted with the report. Explaining the progress made, she said: "I was hired as part of the new management team to go in and try to turn things around. It had recently been assessed by the CQC as inadequate in all areas. There were several regulation breaches and residents were deemed to be unsafe.
"And so me and the team of care staff have worked and worked to fix things. It's paid off - now we are good in all areas. We are now at full occupancy, and we've even got a waiting list.
"It's been one massive challenge. The provider's changed and everything's changed."
The care home caters for around 50 people, with residents including people with dementia.
Nicola said new systems had been brought in to tackle issues around the recording of medicine use and infection control. She also paid tribute to the care staff on-site. She said: "Our staff have been fantastic. They have made it so much easier. They are truly angels - and worth their weight in gold.
"The healthcare industry is having the worst time and there are national shortages in staff. But throughout, from the first inspection, through Covid which was absolutely devastating and through the national shortages, the staff have stuck together and and they are all angels. I'm so proud of them."
Inspectors agreed. Writing in their report that: "People were cared for effectively and safely. Some risk assessments needed more detail. Any safeguarding concerns were reported and investigated."
The inspection team added: "People, relatives and staff told us management of the home had improved significantly. Staff told us morale had improved and there was a good working team at the home. Relatives told us they had witnessed significant improvements in care and the overall running of the home. A range of checks and audits were undertaken."
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