Wakefield nursing home rated inadequate and placed into special measures

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Minster Care Management Limited that they must make urgent improvements at Attlee Court in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in order to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people living there.

During an unannounced inspection in June this year, CQC inspectors found that the home was failing to provide care which was safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs or well led.

Under CQC’s programme of inspections, all adult social care services are being given a rating to help people choose care. Overall, Attlee Court has been rated as Inadequate.

A full report from the inspection has been published on the CQC website: www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-123533831.

The report highlights a number of areas of concern, including:

• There were not enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff on duty to ensure people's needs were met in a timely manner.
• Staff did not always take reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse, and prevent it, or to respond appropriately to allegations of abuse.
• Care and treatment was not planned and delivered in a way that ensured people's safety and welfare.
• Many areas of the home were visibly dirty and standards of hygiene and infection control were poor.
• People were not protected against the risks associated with unsafe use and management of medicines.
• Some people living at the home may have been deprived of their liberty without appropriate authorisation because assessments under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were not always taking place.
• Leadership and management of the home was ineffective and poor communication systems meant those in charge were not always aware of what was happening in the home.

Debbie Westhead, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North, said:

“Whilst we did hear some positive comments about the care people received at Attlee Court, we also received some concerning feedback from families and visiting healthcare professionals.

“The provider is failing to meet the basic needs and individual choices of the people living at Attlee Court. Many people living at the home do not have the ability to consent and the home has not ensured they were lawfully protected.

“It is unacceptable that the provider has allowed the service to deteriorate in this way. The provider should have systems in place to monitor the quality of the service to prevent such a decline in standards, and we have made it clear that they must take action to address the concerns we have identified.

“Since the inspection we have been working closely with the local authority to ensure that residents are not at risk. We have placed this service in special measures and are considering the need for further action in relation to this provider. 

“We will re-inspect the home within six months to check whether sufficient improvements have been made. If we find that the service being provided remains inadequate, we will consider taking further steps to cancel its registration with CQC."

Any regulatory decision that CQC takes is open to challenge by a registered person through a variety of internal and external appeal processes.

Ends

For further information please contact CQC Regional Communications Officer Mark Humphreys on 0191 233 3519. For media enquiries about the Care Quality Commission, please call the press office on 020 7448 9401 during office hours. Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here (please note: the duty press officer is unable to advise members of the public on health or social care matters).

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