A CARE home for people with autism and learning disabilities has been rated ‘inadequate’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Inspectors visited St Anne’s Community Services - Sutherland Court, Lightcliffe, on June 22 and 23 this year. 

They branded it ‘inadequate’ in the key questions relating to effectiveness, responsiveness and leadership and ‘requires improvement’ when assessing how safe and caring the home was. Because of the rating, the home is now in special measures. 

The report said: “The service did not focus on people’s quality of life and care delivery was not person centred.

“Staff knew people well and showed kindness, but they did not recognise how to promote people’s rights, choice and independence.

"People’s human rights were not always upheld. Care and activities were not planned in a way that met people’s individual needs. People’s communication needs were not met and information was not shared in a way that people could understand.”

Inspectors added: “The service had sufficient staff but they were not appropriately trained. Poor staff performance was not always recognised which placed people at risk of harm. 

“Leaders were out of touch with what was happening in the service.

“People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice.

“People were not supported by staff who understood best practice in relation to learning disability and autism. Governance systems did not ensure people were kept safe and received a high quality of care and support in line with their personal needs.”

However, inspectors said care was provided in a “safe, clean, well-furnished and well-maintained environment” which met people’s physical needs. 

The report also said people were protected from abuse and people’s risks were “assessed regularly and usually managed safely”.

It added: “People had access to independent advocacy. Staff supported people to maintain links with those that are important to them.”

A spokesperson for St Anne’s said the outcome of the inspection was “very disappointing as we pride ourselves on the high-quality care and support provided to our clients across a wide range of service provision”. 

They added: “Currently, 96 per cent of all our CQC registered services are rated good or outstanding, which is approximately 10 per cent above the CQC national average. 

“We take any downgrade to a service rating very seriously and have put in place robust action plans and audits to ensure that service quality returns to the high standard we expect.”