Sleaford-area care home labelled ‘inadequate’ by industry watchdog

York House, in Billinghay, received the judgment from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as an overall rating for its service, but also in terms of whether the service is safe and whether the service well-led.

It is the lowest of the four ratings used by the CQC and places the provider in ‘special measures’, meaning the service will be kept under review.

The assessment follows an unannounced inspection between January 13 and February 2 of last year and features in a report published last week. Criticism includes:

* “People were not always protected from risk of abuse. Risks associated with people’s care and support were not always planned for. Medicines were not stored or managed safely. People did not always receive medicines as prescribed. People were at risk of harm due to widespread poor infection control practices.”

* “People were at risk due to staffing levels and staff competence.”

* “Governance systems were not effective in adequately supporting people. Audits failed to identify and act upon issues and to ensure person-centred care.”

* “The service did not create a comfortable environment for staff to raise concerns.”

The CQC did note, however, that people and relatives were ‘mostly positive’ about the safety of the service and that improvements had been made since the inspection.

York House, which is run by LJ Care Homes Ltd, stressed improvements had been made under new management (reportedly since October).

“We have an amazing team, in fact, it is more like a family-run home,” a spokesman said.

It dismissed allegations of abuse as ‘false’ and disputed numerous statements in the report, including those relating to staffing levels and training.

To read the report in full, visit https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-232410795/inspection-summary#overall