Care home in special measures after residents 'at risk of harm'

During the Care Quality Commission's first inspection of Kingswood House in Thurcroft, inspectors issued two warning notices to “focus attention on making immediate improvements regarding safe care and treatment, and how the service is managed” due to the “level of concerns found”.

Elysium Healthcare No.4 Limited - which runs the facility on Green Arbour Road - said it was “disappointed” but “fully acknowledge(d)” the findings, stating residents' safety and wellbeing was its “highest priority”.

Following the inspection in October, the CQC rated the areas of 'safe', 'effective' and 'well-led' as 'inadequate', while the categories of 'caring' and 'responsive' were 'requires improvement'.

Inspectors found Kingswood House “didn’t assess people’s needs and risks properly meaning they could be placed at risk of unsafe care”, while leaders and “didn’t have the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively to ensure people received appropriate care”.

Other concerns highlighted by the watchdog included a failure to “act on concerns raised by professionals about poor practice in a timely manner” as well “poor quality” care records.

Victoria Marsden, CQC deputy director of operations in the north said: “We found failings in leadership that placed people at unnecessary risk of harm.

“Leaders weren’t managing the service well, meaning people weren’t receiving the safe and person-centred care they deserved.

“Instability within the management team had caused a detrimental impact on the quality of care provided.

“This lack of oversight and poor supervision from leaders resulted in staff not being supported appropriately to work to the best of their abilities.

“Disorganisation within the staff team often led to people missing important appointments.

“Relatives had repeatedly reminded staff about their loved ones missed appointments and fed back that when they did attend, the home sometimes forgot to give people important documents they needed to take with them.

“Additionally, leaders failed to improve how incidents were dealt with to ensure people were kept safe, despite this being raised previously.

“Commissioners also raised concerns about the service’s ability to adequately assess people’s needs and record important information about incidents.”

A spokesperson for Elysium Healthcare said: “The safety and wellbeing of our residents is always our highest priority, and we fully acknowledge the findings laid out in this CQC report.

“We are, of course, disappointed to receive this rating, and we have now formulated, and begun to deliver, a robust action plan to remedy the identified issues.

“The improvement plan includes upgrades to management and recording processes, increased colleague support, enhanced training and an ongoing review of the overarching governance structure.

“The service is now also under new leadership, with support from our senior management team.

“It is essential to us that Kingswood House delivers the very highest quality care and support for those who call it home and we will be working closely with the CQC in the coming weeks and months to evidence these improvements.”