A nursing home has been told it must seriously improve its care before it is allowed to admit any new residents.
Redcar and Cleveland Council is overseeing attempts to improve the quality of care at the Hillview nursing home in Eston and has introduced an action plan.
As part of the plan, the care home, which has come under fire for poor standards, cannot accept new residents until improvements are made.
Carol Searle told The Gazette last week of her complaints about the care her mother Agnes, 77, received at the home, which has 53 residents.
Agnes was taken to hospital in an ambulance with severe dehydration, pneumonia, blood poisoning and a burning temperature almost a week after Carol reported concerns to staff.
Redcar and Cleveland Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Social Wellbeing, Cllr Sheelagh Clarke said: “As a council we take the quality of care in the borough very seriously.
“The safeguarding serious concern protocol has been initiated in relation to Hillview Nursing Home.
“An action plan for improvement has been developed with the nursing home and work is on-going with the provider, care quality commission, the local authority safeguarding unit, and health colleagues.
“Until all agencies are satisfied that all necessary improvements have been implemented to the quality of care, no new admissions from the council will be made into the nursing home.”
Ms Searle’s complaints about the care her mother received at the home were upheld by an Adult Safeguarding Investigation Report conducted by the council’s social services.
Bupa, the company which own the home, carried out its own report and formally apologised to the family - and said it has put in place improvements to prevent similar mistakes in future.
Mrs Searle, mum to four, grandmother to six and great-grandmother to six, was taken to hospital in August last year.
She died in hospital in October after a short battle with stomach cancer.
Carol said: “It is not just us who have complained, there have been others. This should have happened a long time ago.
“We have not been taking a pop at the carers there, but the management of the home. There should be something in place to make sure there are enough staff and they are trained properly.
“We now know that mum had an underlying illness which led to her death, but the care leading up to her going into hospital robbed her of living her final few months in comfort.
“We want to stop this happening again.”
During an unrelated visit in October last year, the CQC found that Hillview was failing to meet national standards and issued formal warnings to Bupa Care Homes.
It was found that the service was failing to protect people against the risks associated with poor medicines management.
The service was also failing to ensure that appropriate records were kept.
After Ms Searle’s complaints about the home were upheld, a spokesperson for Bupa said: “The home’s care team have worked hard, with support from our specialist advisers, and have made a series of improvements. These include a new-early warning system to identify concerns about residents’ health; changes to how we record the administration of medication; a new care planning system; and regular meetings with residents and their families.
“Our residents and their families have told us they have seen changes but we will continue working to drive further improvements.”
A spokesman for the CQC said the inspection body was aware of the suspension, and was "closely monitoring the home."He said: "The CQC and partner agencies are monitoring to ensure that residents are not at immediate, serious risk."
Bupa has been contacted for comment about the decision to stop allowing new residents at the care home.
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