Health watchdog set to close inadequate Bishop's Castle care home
Action to close a Shropshire care home is to be enforced after inspectors found that failures that saw it put into special measures have still not not been addressed.
Officials from the the Care Quality Commission (CQC) conducted a "targeted inspection" last month of Keegan’s Court Residential Care Home in Bishop’s Castle.
The inspection was prompted due to concerns received about unsafe staffing levels in the home and follows two previous visits by the CQC - which had previously put the care home into special measures and rated it 'inadequate' and detailed the steps that operator Kevindale Residential Care Home needed to take to improve its service.
The CQC said in its report of June's visit that just two people were living at the home when they visited, yet despite this, there were "continued breaches regarding safeguarding people from abuse, governance, and people’s safety".
No ratings were given following the inspection, but the CQC said the service remains rated inadequate overall and added that is has started the process to prevent the provider, Kevindale Residential Care Home, from operating the care home.
Andy Brand, CQC deputy director of operations for the Midlands, said: “When we returned to Keegan’s Court Residential Care Home, we were concerned that issues highlighted at the last two inspections still hadn’t been addressed.
"It’s for this reason that we’re using our enforcement powers to prevent them from operating in order to keep people safe.
“People remained at risk of harm as leaders failed to provide safe staffing levels at certain times of the day and night. This understaffing issue was made worse by existing staff not being provided with clear instructions on what to do in the event of an emergency."
Mr Brand added: “It was also incredibly concerning that people weren’t protected from the risk of abuse or ill-treatment.
"For example, an ex-staff member who had been dismissed following allegations of abuse entered the building regularly and had the door code to enter independently. Leaders knew this person was entering the building and did nothing to prevent it from happening to keep people safe from abuse. This is unacceptable.
“Our inspectors continued to find a service that was poorly led, with leaders being unable to identify who was responsible for running the service and what roles staff were expected to carry out.
“Due to the number of serious issues found again, the service will remain in special measures to help us, and other partner organisations keep people safe until our enforcement action is complete.”
Nobody was available at Kevindale Residential Care Home to comment on the CQC's inspection.
