West Ridings Care Home in Outwood placed in special measures

A West Yorkshire care home has been rated inadequate and placed in special measures after inspectors raised several concerns.

West Ridings Care Home in Wakefield, which cares for people with dementia, mental health illnesses and disabilities, has been told to make urgent improvements to its service by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The CQC said the home had failed to report several safeguarding issues “appropriately” including one incident where a resident was “physically abused” by another in a communal area.

Advinia Care Homes, which runs the home, said issues in the social care sector had left providers under “unsustainable pressure”, but added it was “fully committed” to residents.

Inspectors said the home was not well led, having been without a registered manager for several months at the time of the CQC’s visit in May.

The report said a “lack of continuity” in leadership had “impacted on the care people received and staff morale”.

The regulator also highlighted instances of action not being taken when residents lost weight or needed follow-up health checks.

Residents were complimentary about the quality of the food and cleanliness of the home while talking to inspectors with some saying they “felt safe and enjoyed living” at West Ridings.

However, some also said there were not enough staff to meet their needs, with one resident quoted as saying: “They don’t have time to chat with me. Having a conversation would be helpful and nice to have.”

Linda Hirst, the CQC’s deputy director of operations for the north, said: “Despite these understaffing issues, people and relatives told us that staff were kind when they did have time to speak to them.

“Leaders need to support staff to have the time to meet the social needs of residents as well as their physical needs.

“We have told leaders where we expect to see rapid improvements and will continue to monitor the home closely to keep people safe while this happens.”

A spokesperson for Advinia Homes claimed councils were placing people “into our care while failing to complete timely assessments or adjust resources to reflect the level of support required”.

The provider added: “We have repeatedly chased assessments that are deliberately delayed to avoid triggering additional funding.

“This leaves providers like us delivering care significantly below cost, and under unsustainable pressure.”

“Both the local authority and the CQC rightly expect safe, high-quality care to be delivered sustainably — yet neither is willing to ensure that the funding provided meets the actual cost of delivering that care.”

In response, Wakefield Council said its priority was to “work with” Advinia to support their efforts to improve.

Rachel Bowes, the authority’s corporate director for adults and health said: “Funding for adult social care is a significant challenge right across the country.

“It’s affecting local authorities, independent providers and those who need the care.

“All care providers have a responsibility to provide good quality care that they can afford to deliver.”

The CQC declined to comment, but a source at the regulator said social care funding was a matter for the Department of Health.