York care home 'inadequate'.

A YORK care home has been placed in special measures after inspectors assessed it as 'inadequate' on the third visit.

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

The latest report is the third in a row in which the CQC has criticised Haisthorpe House. The home was told to improve after an inspection in July 2014 and inspectors remained concerned on returning in February 2015. Now the latest inspection in June 2015 found the home is 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 for each was inadequate.

According to the CQC residents are still not being protected from abuse. The report says: "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. One example was that there was no evidence of action to investigate why one person had bruising. "Another example included an incident where one individual had hit another with a stick. Again there was no evidence that this had been reported or any action had been taken" the report said.

There were also a number of cases in which residents had not been given their medication as prescribed. Inspectors found a resident 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 them, 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 that 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 can take action to start preventing the provider from operating the service, possibly leading to cancellation of their registration.