Sittingbourne: Berkeley House care home closed after CQC report

A CQC inspector said people's lives at the home were "inhumane" and "not dignified"

A home for people with learning disabilities and autism has been closed after inspectors found residents were living in "appalling conditions".

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited Berkeley House in Sittingbourne, Kent, unannounced and rated it inadequate.

Inspectors found its 16 residents were not being kept safe and were living in poor, unsanitary conditions.

The home, run by The Regard Partnership Ltd, has apologised "unreservedly".

'Inhumane'

A spokesperson said: "We unreservedly apologise for the unacceptable shortcomings highlighted in the inspection and are treating the CQC's findings extremely seriously."

When the CQC inspected the home in October, seven people were moved out and urgent conditions were imposed to keep the remaining nine safe.

However on revisiting later the same month, inspectors found no improvement, and they noted the service "had been allowed to deteriorate".

It was at this point The Regard Partnership informed the CQC it was closing the home with immediate effect.

Debbie Ivanova, a CQC deputy chief inspector, said: "We found people were living in appalling conditions."

She said people's lives at the home were "inhumane" and "not dignified".

There was no toilet roll as it was locked away in a cupboard, bedrooms were dirty, faeces was found on people's bedding and some had no bedding at all.

'Scared'

People's clothes were too small, and one person had no blinds or curtains and their window was fixed open, leaving them exposed to extreme weather, the CQC said.

Some staff spoke to people in a "harsh, degrading way" and "restricted" them against their wishes, the report stated.

The staff themselves told inspectors they were "scared of each other", would often hide in their rooms, and felt unsupported and not listened to.

A spokesperson for the home said: "We are undertaking an immediate and thorough investigation into the unacceptable practices raised by the CQC, which are now being robustly addressed and acted upon, so that lessons can be learnt to ensure this does not happen again."

Ms Ivanova said finding alternative accommodation for the residents without notice caused "extreme angst and distress".

The Regard Partnership deployed a management and support team which worked with the authority to find them new placements.

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