The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Layden Court in Rotherham, inadequate and placed it into special measures to protect people, following an inspection in November.
Layden Court is a care home which provides personal and nursing care for older people, including those living with dementia. It can accommodate up to 92 people. There were 49 people using the service at the time of the inspection.
This inspection was carried out due to concerns CQC received from Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. These included inadequate systems to safeguard people from abuse, concerns around safe care and support, as well as ineffective management of the service.
Following this inspection, the overall rating has dropped from good to inadequate, as have the ratings for being safe and well-led. Effective has declined from good to requires improvement. As this was a focused inspection, caring and responsive were not included and 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 it will be monitored to check sufficient improvements have been made.
Jenny Wilkes, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said:
“When we visited Layden Court, it was disappointing to see such a significant shortfall of strong leadership. We found leaders hadn’t implemented effective systems and processes, which meant they didn’t know when people were at risk so they could put measures in place to protect them.
“We found that assessments and care plans weren’t always accurate or detailed enough for staff to safely support people. For example, people at risk of choking didn’t have clear instructions in their care plans so staff knew what care and support to give people in relation to their food and drinks.
“Clear care plans also weren’t in place for the people living at Layden Court with dementia and other individual care needs. This resulted in a high number of potentially avoidable incidents where people had come to harm. Since the inspection, the provider was putting more training in place so staff can support staff in a safer way.
“Additionally, the provider didn’t have effective systems to safeguard people from the risk of abuse. They hadn’t ensured all referrals to the local authority safeguarding team had been made or shared details with CQC. Therefore, we weren’t assured all the necessary investigations had taken place to protect people.
“We have told Layden Court where we expect to see rapid and widespread improvements will continue to monitor them closely to keep people safe during this time. We will return to check on their progress and won’t hesitate to take further action if people are not receiving the care they have a right to expect.”
Inspectors found:
- Risks to people had not been fully assessed and there was not always guidance for staff on how best to manage these risks
- Medicines were not being managed safely
- There were not adequate numbers of staff on duty to meet people's needs
- We were not assured that policies and systems in the service supported people to have maximum choice and control in the least restrictive way
- There was a lack of effective management oversight to ensure the quality of care.
However:
- People had access to health care when needed and assessments of people's care were undertaken before they moved in
- People told us they enjoyed the food served at Layden Court. Staff were kind and caring in their interactions with people, where time allowed this.