‘Understaffed’ HC-One care home placed in special measures

An understaffed HC-One care home where relatives volunteered to help provide better care for their loved ones has been placed in special measures.

Priory Gardens in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, which provides care for up to 72 people, was rated Inadequate by the CQC following an inspection in May.

The CQC said: “People and relatives told us there were insufficient staff to provide safe and effective care. Many relatives advised us they came in to assist staff otherwise their relation would not be cared for properly.”

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The CQC highlighted the home had had no registered manager since December 2017 with a number of different managers filling the post leaving staff and people reliant on the service “unsettled and upset at the amount of changes”.

Medicine management at the home was also found to be unsafe with one person not receiving their correct dose for four days.

An HC-One spokesperson said: “The safety and wellbeing of residents is always our number one priority, and we take all feedback from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) very seriously.

“Following the CQC’s inspection in May, we took immediate action to address the challenges they have highlighted and we have made very positive progress over the last three months.

“We have appointed a new and experienced home manager, who will provide strong leadership within the home, and assigned dedicated care teams to each floor of the home so we can provide greater continuity of care.

“We continue to work closely with the relevant authorities to make and sustain improvements, and we are confident we will have made significant positive progress by our next inspection.”