Bolton's Breightmet Centre for Autism put in special measures

The independent hospital is run by ASC Healthcare Ltd

A hospital for people with autism and learning disabilities has been put in special measures by inspectors after a "significant decline" in its care.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated Breightmet Centre for Autism in Bolton, Greater Manchester, as "inadequate" after an inspection in March.

It found "people were not protected from abuse and poor care" and there was a lack of appropriately skilled staff.

ASC Healthcare Ltd, which runs the site, said it was making improvements.

The independent hospital, which takes admissions from across the country, was supporting 17 people with autism at the time of the inspection.

It was placed in special measures in June 2019 but this was lifted after an inspection in November 2020 noted improvements had been made and the service was rated as "good" overall.

The latest inspection followed safety concerns raised about the care and treatment of people using the service.

It was rated as "inadequate" for being safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

The report said: "People were not protected from abuse and poor care.

"The service did not have enough, appropriately skilled staff to meet people's needs and keep them safe."

'Concerned and disappointed'

Debbie Ivanova, CQC director, said inspectors were "disappointed to see a significant decline in the quality of care provided".

"We found the support and treatment given did not meet people's needs and aspirations.

"Care did not focus on people's quality of life or follow best practice and audits undertaken did not reflect the quality of care given."

She said: "It was concerning that many staff were not suitably skilled or trained to work with people with a learning disability or autistic people.

"This led to people receiving limited support with making choices and having control over their own lives."

She added feedback from families and carers about the quality of the service was "poor" citing communication issues with a failure to respond to emails or phone calls and described staff as "defensive" when issues were raised and and they were "made to feel unwelcome on the wards".

But inspectors found the centre was a clean, well-equipped and well-maintained environment that met people's sensory and physical needs and managers had ensured staff had regular supervision and appraisals and understood their roles and responsibilities.

'Robust action plan'

A spokesman for ASC Healthcare said safety and wellbeing was its "number one priority", adding it was "disappointed" with the CQC's findings and was working to ensure improvements were made.

He added: "We are sorry for any distress caused to both our service users and their families."

The spokesman said it had implemented "robust and comprehensive action plans to improve our standards" and was "confident the Breightmet Centre will have made sufficient progress by the next inspection".

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