'Unsafe' Delphine Court adult care home closed

Delphine Court had four residents at the time of the Care Quality Commission's visit

A care home for adults with learning disabilities and autism has closed after inspectors deemed it unsafe.

Problems at Delphine Court in Darlington exposed following "serious whistleblowing concerns" included a lack of staff and a failure to protect people from the risk of Covid-19.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected the home in July.

Lifeways, which owns the home, said it had decided to close Delphine Court with four residents to be rehoused.

The CQC rated Delphine Court inadequate for both safety and being well-led.

The home was rated as requiring improvement for safety after a CQC visit in 2018 with the July inspectors saying the home had failed to make things better.

Issues included:

• Unsafe staffing levels and a lack of training

• A lack of care and risk reduction plans for residents

• Failing to keep people safe from the risk of abuse

• Insufficient infection Covid-19 prevention and control measures

• Unsafe management of medicines

• A defective fridge and inappropriate food storage

• Significant black mould in a resident's bathroom

The inspectors highlighted one example of a resident with an underlying health condition and a letter advising them to shield having no measures in place to protect them.

"Staff did not wear PPE with the person and there were no measures in place to reduce the risk of cross infection," the CQC said.

A Lifeways spokesman said: "We have taken the decision to close our residential care home at Delphine Court.

"We are working with CQC, the local authority, and the families of the people we support in order to carefully plan how the four people who live at Delphine Court will be supported in the future.

"All of our staff at Delphine Court will be offered jobs at Lifeways in the local area."