The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated North Downs Villa in Croydon inadequate, and placed it in special measures to protect people from harm and abuse, following an inspection in September.
North Downs Villa, run by Surrey Mental Health Limited, is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 10 people with mental health needs, some living with dementia. At the time of this inspection five people were using the service.
This unannounced inspection was prompted in part due to concerns CQC received about safeguarding risks as well as management issues.
Following this inspection, the care home’s overall rating has dropped from requires improvement to inadequate, as have the ratings for being safe and well-led. The rating for how effective the service is has declined from good to requires improvement. How caring the service is, has again been rated as good, and how responsive the service is has again been rated as 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.
Antoinette Smith, CQC deputy director of operations in London, said:
“When we visited North Downs Villa, it was disappointing to see such a significant shortfall of strong leadership. We found leaders hadn’t implemented effective systems and processes to protect people from abuse and enable staff to deliver high-quality care.
“The provider had converted part of the care home grounds into a residence for someone who wasn’t a resident or member of staff. This could put people living at the home at risk as there was no risk assessment in place for how to protect residents from people who were accessing this home.
“The environment wasn’t dementia friendly even though there were people living at the home who had dementia, this is unacceptable. People with dementia have very specific environment needs, for example the colour scheme and signage could lead to people becoming confused and distressed.
“We also saw other risks at the home, such as a hole in the carpet at the top of a flight of stairs, and no window restrictor on a first-floor bedroom window which put people at risk of falling out.
“We’ve reported our findings to the provider, and they know what they must address. We will monitor the service to ensure people are receiving safe care. If sufficient progress hasn’t been made, we will not hesitate to take action to ensure people’s safety and wellbeing.”
Inspectors also found:
- People lacked choice and control over their lives, and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible. For example, staff undertook all household and daily tasks, and the kitchen and laundry areas were inaccessible to people without staff. This meant people were not supported to develop independent living skills
- Staff did not receive training in managing people when they showed signs of distress or anxieties. This meant the people could not be supported safely and in line with best published practice when people who used the service showed these signs
- The provider failed to notify the CQC when safeguarding incidents occurred. These included incidents where the local authority safeguarding team substantiated abuse allegations
- The provider did not always learn lessons when things went wrong. Where incidents occurred, the provider did not always make improvements necessary to ensure they did not reoccur.
However:
- People were treated with dignity and respect. For example, staff respected privacy by knocking on people's bedrooms and waited for their permission before entering
- People's cultural and religious needs were stated in care records, and they were supported around their spiritual needs
- The provider followed appropriate recruitment processes to ensure staff were suitable to provide support to people.
The report will be published on CQC’s website in the next few days.