Serious concerns about two York care homes

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has issued damning reports about Haisthorpe House in Holgate Road, which looks after up to 30 people with mental health needs and learning disabilities, and South Park in Acomb, which caters for up to 80 older people.

Haisthorpe has been criticised for three times in a row by the CQC. It was first told to improve after an inspection in July last year and inspectors remained concerned when they returned in February. Now it has emerged that a third inspection in June found it was still in breach of nine regulations.

The CQC says that in response to five categories - is the service safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led - the rating in each case was inadequate.

It says residents are still not being protected from abuse: "Staff had not received appropriate training and were unaware of the reporting procedures should an area of suspected abuse be identified."

There were incident forms where risks had been identified but no action taken. For example, there was no evidence of action to investigate why one person had bruising. "Another example included an incident where an individual had hit another individual with a stick," it says. "Again there was no evidence that this had been reported or any action had been taken."

There were also a number of 'medication failures', in which residents had not been given their medication as prescribed. Inspectors found an individual with diabetes was 'put at significant risk due to the lack of action by staff to respond to a drop in blood sugar levels.'

The report said that although staff were now receiving better support, their induction, training and supervision was still not providing them with the right skills to care for people safely.

Inspectors observed staff who demonstrated a kind and caring attitude to residents, and residents said they liked the staff, but some residents looked unkempt, with dirty and dishevelled clothes and hair, and one person had not had a bath or shower recorded for three months.

Owner John Britcliffe said he was in the process of selling the home but said significant improvements had been made since the inspection.

Care homes placed in special measures will be inspected again within six months and, if insufficient improvements have been made, the CQC will take action to begin preventing the provider from operating the service, possibly leading to cancellation of their registration.

Meanwhile, South Park (pictured above) has been described as 'inadequate' in three areas, including safety, and as 'requiring improvement' in two others, following an inspection in August.

A report said the service had not had a registered manager since December 2013, people were at risk of acquired infections, trips and falls, some areas were not cleaned to a hygienic standard and staff did not receive effective training or supervision.

Staff said they did not have time to get to know new people, with one saying: "Everything is rushed because of the lack of staff."

A spokesman for South Park's owner, Four Seasons, said it was sorry care had fallen well below the standards it expected to provide and it took this most seriously. He said a regional manager had already identified the need for improvements ahead of the inspection and an action plan had started.

"We now have a new very experienced acting home manager in place and we have created two new positions of unit managers, who will closely supervise each of our two care units and support staff to carry out our policies and procedures to maintain quality of care. We are also supporting staff with enhanced training in personalised care and specialist dementia care."

He said a refurbishment had started, a recruitment programme was continuing and the home was committed to delivering 'person-centred care' that met each resident's individual needs and preferences.

City of York Council said it had been aware of issues at Haisthorpe House and had been working closely with the former management team and CQC for some time, to provide support and advice, as well as looking at future plans.

It said South Park had seen considerable improvements which had not been sustained of late, but it understood there were plans for substantial investment in the facilities.