Isle of Sheppey: Care home rated inadequate placed in special measures
- Published
Little Oyster Residential Home can care for up to 64 people
A care home in Kent has been placed in special measures after being rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Little Oyster Residential Home was inspected in January after it was previously rated requires improvement.
Inspectors noted a lack of oversight from senior leaders was behind most of the problems they saw on their visit to the home in Minster-on-Sea.
The home said it was "disappointed" but "committed" to making improvements.
Little Oyster can care for up to 64 people with learning and physical disabilities, mental health conditions and autistic people.
Inspectors found an "inconsistent approach" to supporting people to learn and maintain skills, and quality monitoring processes "were not robust".
Safeguarding
They also noted staff did not always follow processes intended to keep people safe, such as those for medication. It meant some people failed to receive their medication as required.
Pre-admission assessments were not always used to develop people's care plans which contained conflicting information, the CQC said.
Debbie Ivanova, the CQC's director for people with a learning disability and autistic people, said: "There were also other policies that weren't always followed, including safeguarding to protect people from the risk of abuse."
She said they found "small pockets" of improvement, with inspectors finding people were kept in a "clean and well-quipped environment".
Most staff had the necessary training, and, since the home's last inspection, people, their relatives and staff had been encouraged and supported to give feedback about the service.
Ms Ivanova said: "We're monitoring the service closely and we'll inspect it again to assess whether improvements have been made.
"If progress isn't forthcoming, or if people are at immediate risk of harm, we won't hesitate to take action to ensure people's safety."
Little Oyster said in a statement: "Whilst we accept the outcome of the CQCs inspection report, we are obviously disappointed in its decision.
"Little Oyster Residential Care Home has recently come under new management and we are committed to working closely with the CQC to ensure the necessary improvements are made.
"As proceedings with the CQC continue, we are unable to make any further comment."
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