The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Harvey Lane inadequate, and placed it in special measures to protect people from harm, following an inspection in November.
Harvey Lane, run by Consensus Support Services Limited, is a care home for up to eight autistic people and people with a learning disability. At the time of this inspection six people were using the service.
This unannounced inspection was prompted in part due to concerns CQC received about the management of risk to people's safety, medicines and staffing.
Following this inspection, the care home's overall rating has dropped from good to inadequate, as have the ratings for being safe and well-led. The ratings for how effective, caring and responsive the service is have declined from good to requires improvement.
The service is now in special measures, which means it will be kept under close review by CQC to keep people safe and it will be monitored to check sufficient improvements have been made.
Rebecca Bauers, CQC's director for people with a learning disability and autistic people, said:
"When we inspected Harvey Lane, we found poor leadership and inadequate safety measures were putting people at unnecessary risk. These core issues were behind much of what we saw on this inspection, and they were significantly impacting the quality of care being provided to people.
"It was worrying that people's basic needs weren't being met, in areas like supporting them to eat well. In one case, we saw that someone's food records showed they'd mainly eaten crisps for nine days and hadn't had any protein. Staff hadn't recognised the impact of a poor diet on people's health so weren't aware there was an issue to address.
“Staff weren't consistently applying person-centred approaches to supporting people with a learning disability. This often resulted in people becoming distressed as staff didn't take their individual needs into account or even recognise people were showing signs of distress. Leaders also weren't supporting staff to learn from these incidents by using them to make improvements in the quality of care people were receiving.
“Harvey Lane wasn't a safe or dignified place for people to live. Leaders hadn't taken action to address serious safety hazards including mould in people's bathrooms, fire doors that didn't close properly; and chemical products left out within people's reach, all putting them at risk of harm.
“We found a poor culture at Harvey Lane where people didn't have full control or decision-making power in their lives. The leaders weren't supporting staff to empower people to do things on their own, and they hadn't put good systems in place to make sure people's voices were heard.
"Also, we weren't confident that people were getting the help they needed from staff for their health. The staff often weren't aware they needed to involve other external professionals, meaning people didn't always get the support they needed in a timely manner or at all.
“We'll be monitoring the service closely, including through future inspections, to make sure these improvements are carried out and that people are safe whilst this is happening. If we're not assured people are receiving safe, person-centred care, we won't hesitate to take further action.”
Inspectors found:
- When people's needs changed, their care plans weren't updated, so the staff didn't have enough instructions on how to support people.
- Staff didn't always listen to or work with people, their families, and experts to make sure they got the right care and support they needed.
- The furniture was in bad condition. Chairs and sofas were torn with exposed padding, making it unsafe because it couldn’t be cleaned effectively.
- The home wasn’t clean, and inspectors saw cobwebs in several areas.
- Professionals from the local authority also found issues with the quality of the service and told the provider about them earlier this year. However, the service had not effectively improved or learned from this feedback at this inspection.
- There was a lack of effective leadership and there was not a registered manager in place at the time of this inspection.
However:
- People and relatives told inspectors they felt staff were kind and caring.
- Inspectors observed staff interacted with people in a respectful and kind manner.
The report will be published on Harvey Lane's profile on this website.
Contact
For media enquiries:
- Jennifer Fung, regional engagement manager – 07471 020462 – jennifer.fung@cqc.org.uk
- Sinclair Davis, regional engagement officer – 07385 373936 – sinclair.davis@cqc.org.uk
- Alternatively, you can email regional.comms@cqc.org.uk
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