Four homes for autistic people in Cornwall rated inadequate

Trelawney House in Helston provides care for up to six residents and retains its rating as inadequate

Four residential care homes for people with autism and learning disabilities in Cornwall have been rated inadequate.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) told provider Spectrum to make a immediate improvements, saying residents and staff are exposed to "risk of harm".

Those living at Carrick and Heightlea in Truro, Silverdale in Redruth, and Trelawney House in Helston, were "being failed by leaders" it found.

Spectrum said it was "doing everything we can" to provide high quality care.

The organisation, which runs 17 adult residential homes and one children's home in Cornwall, said the "health and wellbeing of the people we support is our absolute priority".

None of the services inspected by the CQC had a registered manager in post, and significant numbers of staff vacancies meant they were dependent on agency workers often working long hours.

'Financial fraud risk'

The CQC said: "These agency staff continued to be allowed to work excessive hours each week and had regularly worked over 84 hours per week with limited opportunities for rest.

"These working practices exposed people and the staff to ongoing risk of harm."

The report also flagged concerns with the culture, and raised the potential for residents becoming victims of financial fraud.

At Carrick, a safeguarding alert was raised after inspectors found evidence that "indicated that there was a financial relationship that may not have been in the best interest of one person living there".

Debbie Ivanova, CQC's deputy chief inspector for people with a learning disability and autistic people, said: "When we inspected Silverdale, Trelawney House ,Carrick and Heightlea we found the people who called these services home, were being failed by leaders.

"All four services were short staffed and were relying on agency to fill most of the hours on the rotas.

"At times these staff were working 84-98 hour weeks and also completing sleep in shifts as well. The mixture of these long working weeks and the dependency of the people living in the services left everyone at a high risk of being impacted negatively by a closed culture."

She added: "We have told Spectrum to make a number of improvements with immediate effect. We are using the CQCs enforcement powers to keep people safe but cannot comment on these processes until they are complete.

"In the meantime, we are working closely with the local authority and other partners to ensure people's safety whilst these improvements are made and fully embedded."

'Recruitment challenges'

A spokesperson for Spectrum said: "The health and wellbeing of the people we support is our absolute priority and we are doing everything we can to provide them with the high quality care they deserve.

"We are working closely with Cornwall Council and the CQC to address areas of concern in our adult services. This work is on-going and includes addressing recruitment challenges within the county.

"We would like to thank the people we support and their families for their continued support of our charity."

Cornwall Council said it was working with partner NHS agencies to "help address the significant issues that Spectrum are facing with the services they provide for adults with autism in Cornwall.

"We are working with Spectrum to make sure residents are safe, both immediately and in the longer term.

"Their wellbeing is our highest priority."

Follow BBC News South West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].