A care home for people with learning disabilities housed a resident in a 'prison cell' like room with a smashed window, no bed linen, torn curtains and a missing toilet seat.
St Domingo Grove in Anfield, run by Gracefield Healthcare, was slammed by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for its "totally unacceptable" conditions. But as well as the state of the facilities, inspectors were also told by a resident that a member of staff had "verbally and physically" abused them, concerns which had been ignored by a manager.
The CQC had intended to simply carry out a check on the premises' infection prevention and control measures, but widened the scope of its investigation when significant issues came to light.
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Hayley Moore, the CQC's head of adult social care inspection, presented a list of damning failings after her team's report was published today. She said: "During the inspection, we found people were at risk of serious harm as the service wasn’t well-led. The registered manager wasn’t aware of incidents involving physical restraint, which meant there wasn’t any oversight to ensure these practices were the most appropriate intervention or that they were carried out safely.
“Someone told us they had been physically and verbally abused by a member of staff and despite raising this with the manager, no action was taken. We shared our concerns with the local safeguarding team and ensured the provider took immediate action to protect the person. Also, when people had unexplained bruising there was no follow up action taken and there was no evidence staff shared these concerns with relevant partner organisations."
Inspectors also observed staff walking through the home and touching surfaces before they took a covid test at the start of their shift.
The home was not clean and hygienic, carpets, doors and handrails were dirty, one person's mattress was heavily stained, and another person's duvet was soiled.
Ms Moore added: “We were concerned that people's privacy, dignity and independence were not respected. During the inspection, we observed a person on the toilet with the door open and three staff members present. Inspectors could walk past with no warning or consideration of the person’s privacy or dignity.
"One person's bedroom had no bed linen, ripped curtains, a smashed window, no toilet seat, damaged walls and clothes were lying on a chair as they had no access to a wardrobe. The person was visibly upset with living in this environment, which is totally unacceptable. The provider did inform us that plans were in place to carry out a refurbishment to improve these conditions.
“We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted, this was not always the case at St Domingo Grove.
“The provider has started to make some improvements and is aware where further changes are necessary to improve the standard of care for vulnerable people living at the home. We will continue to monitor the service closely to ensure people are safe. If we’re not assured people are receiving safe care, we will not hesitate to take further action.”
Gracefield has been contacted for comment.
