Irchester care home for people with autism is in special measures
It follows a CQC inspection that downgraded it's rating.
A care home in Irchester has been placed into special measures.
The CQC have taken action following an inspection.
It's run by Alderwood L.L.A. Limited and provides personal care for up to six autistic people or people with learning disabilities. CQC took action to immediately suspend the ratings of the service after the visit.
Overall rating dropped from outstanding to inadequate. Safe, effective and caring have also dropped from good to requires improvement.
Two warning notices to Alderwood to focus their attention on making sure people using the service receive care and treatment that reflects their needs.
Craig Howarth, CQC’s Deputy Director of Operations in Northamptonshire said:
“We were disappointed to find a decline in leadership at Alderwood was also behind the significant decline in people’s safety that we saw. Our team acted quickly to suspend the ratings immediately after the inspection to ensure people knew CQC weren’t assured that their old ratings were an accurate reflection of the care being provided there any longer.
“The service does have a new registered manager, who was recently appointed, and had started making positive changes. However, they must urgently make rapid and widespread improvements that can be sustained to ensure people’s safety and wellbeing.
“Alderwood also needed to do more to ensure staff were supporting people to lead meaningful lives. While some activities were provided, opportunities were inconsistent and didn’t always reflect people’s individual interests. Staff couldn’t demonstrate how they encouraged people to take part in meaningful activities or try new things. Relatives told us that recent changes in the service had affected planned activities for their loved ones.
“The home didn’t always follow its own incident management policies and procedures which included recording incidents. This meant they couldn’t learn from them to keep people safe from harm and reduce the risk of an incident happening again.
“Staff didn’t fully assess the needs of people at significant risk of harm. They also didn’t always report safeguarding concerns to the relevant external agencies. One family member told us they weren’t informed of a significant incident involving their loved one and healthcare professionals had also raised similar concerns.
“Our inspection team witnessed staff supporting people in emotional and behavioural distress. One staff member was injured during an incident, but staff didn’t record or report to management. Staff also couldn’t explain what strategies they used to support people in distress.
“We will continue to monitor the service to keep people safe while they make these improvements and ensure they are embedded.”
Alderwood L.L.A. Limited have been contacted for comment.