The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told leaders at Mr Adrian Lyttle - Sutton Coldfield that they must make further improvements to the quality of services following an inspection in April.
CQC has rated Mr Adrian Lyttle - Sutton Coldfield, also known as Vesey Road, inadequate for the second time, it was first rated inadequate following an inspection in June and July last year. Part of the service was also inspected, but not rated in January.
Mr Adrian Lyttle – Sutton Coldfield is a residential care home registered to provide personal care for up to nine people with learning disabilities. At the time of the latest inspection there were eight people using the service.
Following the latest inspection, the service was rated inadequate overall as well as for being safe and well-led. It was rated requires improvement for being effective but not rated for being caring or responsive to people’s needs. The care home is still in special measures.
Debbie Ivanova, CQC’s director for people with a learning disability and autistic people, said:
“It’s unacceptable that Mr Adrian Lyttle - Sutton Coldfield had not made the necessary improvements to provide safe and effective care. Our inspection last year identified areas where immediate improvements were needed. However, the provider couldn't assure us that these improvements had been made, leaving people at serious risk of avoidable harm.
“During the inspection last year, we issued the service with a notice of proposal. At our most recent inspection, we found that the conditions within this had not been met and the breaches of regulations remained. The conditions were placed on the service due to the extreme risks identified and restricted admissions for new people or those returning from hospital. We also imposed positive conditions to help drive improvement so that staff received training, support and supervision.
“Therefore, it’s particularly disappointing to find that staff didn’t have appropriate training needed to support people's choice and independence over their lives. Instead, we saw instances of how staff had restricted their freedom and used controlling language rather than show compassion and kindness we would expect. One person who was able to leave the premises unsupervised, was told he couldn’t go out and had to wait for permission.
“Poor leadership led to serious issues becoming normalised – including where people may have experienced verbal, emotional and physical abuse from other residents. Also, staff didn't keep people safe from serious harm, such as the risk of choking.
“We have told the provider to make urgent improvements to keep people safe. We will continue to monitor the service closely and will return to check if the provider has taken effective action. At that point, if we aren't satisfied sufficient changes have been made, we won’t hesitate to take further action.
“We are also liaising with the local authority who have carried out their own reviews and safety checks on all people living at the service.”
Inspectors found the following during the latest inspection:
- Care reviews with relatives had not been completed, leaving people at risk of not being supported in a person-centred way.
- Medications were not stored and administered safely.
- Staff did not have the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to keep people safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment.
- Leaders could not demonstrate they had the skills and abilities to run the service.
- Staff used inappropriate measures to control people and lessons were not always learned following incidents.
- Safeguarding incidents were not always identified or escalated appropriately.