The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Allerton Park Care Centre in Bradford inadequate and placed it in special measures to protect people, following an inspection in July.
This unannounced inspection was prompted by a review of the information CQC held about this service.
Allerton Park Care Centre is a care home, run by Park Homes (UK) Limited, which provides residential care for up to a maximum of 50 people. It provides support to people living with dementia and some who have mental health needs. At the time of the inspection there were 46 people living at the service.
Following this inspection, the overall rating has dropped from good to inadequate, as has how safe and well-led the service is. Effective, caring and responsive were not inspected, therefore remain rated as good.
The service is now in special measures, which means it will be kept under close review by CQC to keep people safe and re-inspected to check sufficient improvements have been made.
Alison Chilton, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said:
“When we inspected Allerton Park Care Centre, we found there was a lack of effective leadership. Our experience tells us that when a service isn’t well-led, it’s less likely to be able to meet people’s needs, which is what we found here.
“Inspectors found safety was a concern. For example, someone was constantly pulling at another person in the home and making them walk around. Both people had behaviour support plans in place due to the risk of them becoming physically aggressive, however, staff failed to intervene and manage the situation to prevent them or anyone else coming to harm.
“Additionally, we found that daily care records weren’t always accurate. There were records showing four people had eaten all their lunch, however, inspectors observed that this wasn’t the case. This put people at risk of being malnourished. This was highlighted to the provider during the inspection as they must take immediate action to address this to keep people safe.
“When inspectors asked people if they felt safe, there was a mixed response. One person told us they were often asked for cigarettes from other people staying at the home and were subject to verbal abuse if they didn’t share. This was fed back to the registered manager so they could take action to prevent it from happening again, as everyone should be able to feel safe in a place they call home.
“What we found at this inspection was completely unacceptable and we expect the provider to take immediate action to address our concerns. We are considering what further regulatory action to take to keep people safe and we will report on this when we are able to.”
Inspectors found:
- People were at risk of harm as the provider had not identified, assessed, or mitigated risks. These included risks related to people’s health and care needs as well as environmental risks
- The environment was tired, not well maintained and unclean
- Staff did not always follow safe infection and control practices
- Medicines were not managed safely
- Some people told us they did not feel safe in the home
- People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice
- There was a lack of effective leadership and ineffective information systems
However:
- Safe recruitment processes were in place and staffing levels were sufficient.