Kidderminster care home placed in special measures over safety concerns
Inspectors said actions had been taken to safeguard residents' financial safety following inspections at the residential home, which also cares for people with mental health conditions, in July and September.Craig Howarth, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said "poor leadership" had led to people being "at risk of potential abuse and unsafe care"."People weren't protected from potential financial abuse in a place they call their home. "We found anomalies with some people's financial records which showed unaccounted spending," he said."We made immediate referrals to the police and local authority safeguarding team who have reviewed these incidents."The CQC said Mariantonia House's overall rating, as well as the ratings for being safe, caring, effective, responsive and well-led, had dropped from "good" to "inadequate" following the inspection.
'Closed culture'
Inspectors said not all staff at the care home had been safely recruited and mandatory training around working with autistic people and those with learning disabilities had not been completed.Parts of the 13-bed residential care home were also unsafe, such as furniture not secured in bedrooms which posed a risk of falling onto people.In a report, the health watchdog said it also found "several breaches" of Health and Social Care Act regulations relating to safeguarding from abuse and improper treatment, with signs of a "closed culture" at the service.One person who was at risk of choking had no guidance in their care plan to show staff how to puree food, and another person at risk of falls had no support plan in place.Mr Howarth said it was "unacceptable" that staff at the service had described residents in a "derogatory and disrespectful manner" in their care notes, such as referring to them as rude or having the behaviour of a child.The service will be monitored by the CQC to check improvements have been made."We have told leaders where we expect to see rapid, and continued improvements and will continue to monitor the home closely to keep people safe during this time," Mr Howarth added.
Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Tameside: 'Widespread' failings in council's SEND provision
"Widespread" and "systematic" failings have been found by inspectors looking at a council's care for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said they had significant concerns about Tameside Council's SEND provision which needed to be addressed authority's wider children's services department was found to have "serious failures" and placed in special measures 18 months authority's executive member for lifelong learning and culture, Leanne Feeley said she fully accepted the findings and was "determined to deliver the changes our children, young people and families need and deserve". 'Culture of distrust' The report said: "Too many children and young people with SEND, and their families, do not receive the support that they need to thrive."It said a fundamental barrier that remained was "an overwhelming culture of distrust and frustration from stakeholders in Tameside", adding that although some inroads had been made in winning hearts and minds, there was much more still to who carried out the inspection in May found children were waiting too long for education, health and care (EHC) plans, the Local Democracy Reporting Service improvements were seen in more recent support plans, the quality of older plans was found by the watchdog to be generally report, published on Thursday, criticised a lack of understanding of child exploitation risks and detailed how children felt they did not have enough say in their support also found older SEND children to be more at risk of exclusion from school and detailed how many families struggle with accessing mental health services. 'Long road ahead' Leanne Feeley said: "While we are encouraged by the recognition of recent progress and the confidence shown in our new leadership, we know there is a long road ahead."She said the council was committed to working openly "to rebuild trust and deliver lasting improvements".The report comes after the authority was given a SEND improvement notice by the government, which found an "endemic weakness" in children's support similar issues were found in this latest SEND inspection, but a "renewed determination to improve the lives of children and young people with SEND" was welcomed a significant cash investment into the service, along with the appointment of new director of children's services, Jill also praised the authority's effective help for children with speech and language needs and SEND support in the early years. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Blackpool GP practice in special measures after inspection
A GP practice has been put in special measures and told it needs to make "rapid improvements".Glenroyd Medical in Blackpool was found by inspectors not to investigate or report safety concerns, not properly check staff were suitable, or to give the right training. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the service had "deteriorated" from its previous Outstanding rating. The practice said it was working towards resolving the issues raised by the watchdog. Glenroyd Medical serves about 14,000 people in Blackpool and Bispham. Both of its surgeries were inspected in April and May. Inspectors said staff did not work well together because they had not "received effective support, supervision and development".Fire safety management was found to be "unclear, meaning people could be put at risk in an emergency," the CQC said. But patients felt listened to and were treated with "kindness and compassion". Linda Hirst, CQC deputy director of operations for the region, said: "When we inspected Glenroyd Medical, although we found caring staff, it was disappointing to see such a deterioration in the quality of care being provided since we last inspected. "Poor leadership had led to people receiving unsafe care, and we found several areas where urgent improvements are needed to keep people safe."In a statement on its website, Glenroyd Medical said its inspection "did not go as hoped" and that it was working to fix the problems raised by the August deadline given by the CQC. It added: "The matters highlighted focus mostly around recording of processes, procedures and policies, recording of team learning, HR documentation, remedial property work etc. and not on the 'Clinical standards, performance delivery or caring for you as patients, for which our rating was good."We will continue to provide you with a high-quality primary health care." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Cleator Moor care home concerns prompt watchdog inspection
A care home has been told it requires improvement after concerns raised prompted a health regulator inspection. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected Wyndham Manor in Cleator Moor, near Whitehaven, Cumbria, after the local authority and the home itself raised concerns about people's care and watchdog said it identified shortfalls "in relation to record keeping and the management of medicines, nutrition and continence care". The care home said it flagged concerns following a quality care audit and since the inspection it had made "significant progress" with the agreed improvement plan. The CQC's inspection also found a breach of the legal regulation in relation to good governance.A report published following the inspection, said Cumberland Council was supporting the home to ensure "correct procedures were in place to keep people safe". Admissions suspended The home has capacity for up to 68 people - including those with dementia - but at the time of the inspection in April it had 40 residents. The CQC said Wyndham Manor had temporarily suspended new admissions before the visit "to allow improvements to be made and ensure people's safety"."An effective safeguarding system was not fully in place," the report said."It was not always clear how safeguarding concerns were reported, recorded, investigated and analysed."It added that assessments on the risk of malnutrition and choking were not always accurate and advice from the speech and language therapist could not always be residents praised the care they received and that there were sufficient levels of staffing, inspectors found there was no system in place to ensure they were trained and supported."The [home] had already identified many of the issues we found," the CQC said."They had introduced new recording and monitoring systems as well as a new electronic care management system."It was not possible to check how effective these new systems were because they had just been introduced and were not yet embedded into practice."The home confirmed that it had now reopened a statement it said it had last been inspected six years ago when it was rated good."We are confident that we will once again achieve this rating at our next inspection," it said. "CQC acknowledged that the staff treat the residents with kindness, empathy and compassion whilst respecting their dignity and we hope that this will offer people the reassurance that we are moving in the right direction at Wyndham Manor." Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
