‘Unsafe’ Wakefield district care home where residents were left with unbrushed teeth and people were unable to speak placed in special measures by CQC

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Roop Cottage Residential Home, on Wakefield Road in Fitzwilliam, “inadequate” and placed it in special measures to protect people following an inspection in November and December.

Inspectors said the home was unsafe and unhygienic.

Roop Cottage, run by SNSB Limited, provides residential care for up to 35 people.

Sheila Grant, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said: "When we inspected Roop Cottage, we found a disorganised and unsafe service, where a lack of strong leadership was impacting people’s care and placing them at risk of harm.

"Concerns raised at previous inspections hadn’t been acted upon and there was very little evidence to show the service was learning when things went wrong.

"For example, leaders repeatedly accepted new people into the home without assessing risk, even though a serious incident had occurred with someone who was admitted without an assessment of the risks to themselves or others.

“This is a place people call home and being kept clean and hygienic is a basic care need that people should be able to expect as an absolute minimum.

"However, we saw some people looking unkempt with dirty fingernails and mouths, and unbrushed teeth which placed them at risk of infection.

“It was upsetting that some people who were unable to communicate verbally weren’t having their basic needs met.

"Two people who were unable to speak with us had very dry mouths and one person was chewing their hand, which staff said was a sign they may be thirsty or hungry.

“We raised concerns at previous inspections around people not being given choice about where or how they wanted to spend the day.

"We continued to see people in bed or sitting in their rooms, even when their preference was to be in communal areas.

“We have told leaders where we expect to see rapid, widespread improvements and will continue to monitor the home closely to keep people safe during this time. We will return to check on their progress and won’t hesitate to take further action if people aren’t receiving the care they have a right to expect.”

The inspection was prompted due to concerns received about people being unkempt and remaining in their bedrooms, poor management of choke risks, dietary needs, weight loss, diabetes, pressure care, privacy, dignity and cleanliness of the environment.

Following the inspection, the overall rating for the home as well as safe, caring, effective, and responsive have all declined from "requires improvement” to “inadequate”.

The “well-led” was again rated as “inadequate”.

The home being placed in special measures means the CQC is closely monitoring it to ensure people are being kept safe, and it will be assessed to see whether improvements have been made.

People weren’t fully supported to express their views and be involved in decisions affecting their care.

People weren’t weighed consistently, and records were poor.

Where there were recorded weight losses, no action had been taken to follow up on the assessments.

There was insufficient oversight, such as of accidents and incidents, to identify where lessons could be learned.

The Express has approached Roop Cottage for comment.