By Anna Whittaker, Local Democracy Reporter
A care home looking after individuals with learning disabilities and autism was has been deemed inadequate by healthcare inspectors.
Manswick Care Home, in Forest Town, was caring for three people at the time of the inspection.
The private home in a residential street, Oakland Road, was visited by Care Quality Commission inspectors on June 28.
It was rated inadequate in three out of five areas. It was not ‘safe’, ‘effective’ or ‘well-led’. The other two areas, ‘caring’ and ‘responsive’ were rated ‘good’.
Inspectors found six instances where the home was in breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and four warning notices were issued to the provider.
The report into the home, which is owned by Milton Keynes-based Rhodsac Community Living Ltd, stated: “People were at risk of and had experienced abuse from others because staff did not know how to protect people from poor care and abuse.
“We saw recorded incidents between people where one person verbally
abused another. The registered manager and staff had not reported this to the local authority safeguarding team and had not notified CQC.”
The report said that some people who lived at the home were “being deprived of their liberty”, but “information was not always available in people’s records to explain why restrictions were in place”.
Staff told inspectors they had previously used a ‘restraint belt’ to control one person.
But the report added: “We found no corresponding care plan, risk assessment or any other form of agreement to use this equipment.
“This was not in line with current good practice as providers need to ensure restrictive practices are only used when necessary, are proportionate to the risk of harm and used as a last resort.”
Since a previous inspection, medicines had been moved to more secure storage, but they were being stored at the wrong temperature.
Inspectors found that care plans did not always reflect people’s needs. One person had more than 30 different support plans and the lack of clear guidance “increased the risk of people not receiving consistent support when they were experiencing distress”.
However, staff told inspectors that they were supported by their manager who was “very understanding”.
The report also stated that people lived in a clean and well-furnished environment and bedrooms were spacious and clean.
The report added: “All people we spoke with told us they were happy living at the service.”
Previously, the home was rated requires improvement and the CQC has now downgraded it to inadequate.
Manswick Care Home did not respond to our request for comment.
Within the next six months, the home will either be reinspected or will have its CQC registration cancelled.