'Unsafe' care home placed in special measures

A Lincolnshire care home has been placed in special measures after inspectors found it had "deteriorated significantly" since their last visit.

Fitzwilliam Care Centre in Mablethorpe was rated as Inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in July. After revisiting the home in October, inspectors became increasingly concerned over further breaches, especially for those receiving care for mental health issues.

Greg Rielly, CQC's deputy director of adult social care for the East Midlands, said "poor leadership" was "impacting on every aspect of the lives of people who called it home".

The home, run by Mablethorpe Care Limited, declined to comment.

At the previous inspection in July, the CQC found four breaches of the legal regulations relating to person centred care, safe care and treatment, management and safe staffing.

In October, further breaches were identified in relation to consent, safe environments, safeguarding and concerns raised around failure to report legally notifiable events to the CQC.

Fitzwilliam Care Centre has now been rated as inadequate for being safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led, all down from requires improvement at the previous inspection.

Special measures involves close monitoring to ensure people are safe while they make improvements.

The CQC has also begun the process of taking regulatory action to address the concerns, which they said Fitzwilliam Care Centre has the right to appeal.

Mr Rielly said that while older people " were generally satisfied", those in mental health units "didn't feel safe or supported due to the actions of other people living in the home and the small number of staff on hand when incidents occurred."

He added: "Staff lacked skills in mental health monitoring and were dismissive in care notes when dealing with people who expressed repeated feelings of self-harming behaviours and a desire to end their lives."

He said inspectors found pharmacy stock balance errors for nine out of 15 people who might have been receiving the wrong doses, while one person had also run out of multiple medicines, "posing a risk to their mental health".

He added: "When staff raised the issue of medicines, they told us managers brushed their concerns under the carpet."

Mr Rielly said staffing levels, though improved, were "insufficient for safe care during outings or emergencies".

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