'˜People were put at risk from harm due to insufficient staffing levels'

The inspection took place on 16 and 17 February 2016 and was unannounced. This is the first inspection of the service since its registration with the Care Quality Commission on 31 December 2015.

Wathwood Lodge is a care home providing accommodation for up to five people. It is situated close to Wath Upon Dearne town centre and has limited restricted parking. It provides accommodation on both the ground and first floor and has gardens to the front and rear of the building.

The service has a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We carried out this inspection because we received information of concern and we wanted to check if the one person receiving the service was safe and received appropriate care that met their needs

We found procedures in relation to recruitment and retention of staff were not sufficiently robust which may mean that people who used the service may receive care from staff that were not suitable.

We found staff had received some training however staff told us that they had not received practical moving and handling training. Most of the training was video based. We could not confirm the quality of the training would enable staff to deliver safe care and treatment.

We found people were put at risk from harm due to insufficient staffing levels which had impacted on their care and safety.

We found records to ensure people received appropriate safe care were inadequate. There were no assessments of the persons care, health and welfare needs and no care plans to direct staff how to safely deliver care and meet their needs. We also found there were no risk assessments in place to ensure any risks to the person in relation to their care, health and welfare could be identified so these could be manage and mitigated.

The provider was aware of the Mental Capacity Act and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). We found the person receiving care at the time of the inspection had capacity to make informed decisions about their care and treatment.

We found insufficient evidence that the service was meeting the person’s nutritional needs. There were very little food at the service and there was no evidence that fresh cooked meals were being provided.

The service had medication procedures in place however we found records to be inaccurate and medication was not stored securely.

We observed good interactions between staff and people who used the service. People were happy to discuss the day’s events and they told us staff were kind and caring.

There were eight breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We are taking action against the provider and will report on this when completed.

The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘Special measures’.

Services in special measures will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider’s registration of the service, will be inspected again within six months.

The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this timeframe.

If not enough improvement is made within this timeframe so that there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve. This service will continue to be kept under review and, if needed, could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement so there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action to prevent the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration.

For adult social care services the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.