A RESIDENT living at a Bradford home for people with alcohol and substance misuse issues escaped by using a broken wheelchair to help with climbing over a wall.

The shocking details were revealed in an inspection report for The Heathers, which is in Manningham.

Inspectors visited the home, described as “run down, not well maintained and overall, not clean” on two dates in September and uncovered a catalogue of worrying issues.

It was previously rated as ‘good’ but has now been told improvements are needed.

The report said: “We reviewed incident records which showed some people regularly abscond from the service.

“One person was assessed as unsafe to go out of the service alone and had a deprivation of liberty safeguard in place (DOLS).

“Despite the risks to the person if they do abscond there was no guidance for staff in the care plan on how to engage with this person and support them to go out accompanied. We saw no evidence the provider had explored any way of supporting the person to reduce the occurrences of absconding.”

On one incident, the report said: “In August 2022 one person used a broken wheelchair in the back garden to assist with climbing over the wall and absconding.

“This wheelchair was still in the back garden on both onsite inspection dates.”

Inspectors said people’s belongings were not safe.

The report said: “People told us how their personal items had been stolen by others.

“One person said ‘I found someone in my room trying to steal my belongings I have to keep everything on me at all times’.

“People did not have access to keys to securely lock valuables away in drawers in their rooms.

“Many people also did not have keys to their own bedrooms doors and could not lock these when unoccupied.”

Inspectors said people had also reported incidents of actual bodily harm from other people in the service.

The report said: “The provider kept a 'grumbles book' but this failed to detail any action taken in response to the concerns raised.”

Concerns were also raised about weekend cover and the report said: “Staffing levels were reviewed regularly and through the week the service had enough staff on each shift.

“On a weekend the service ran on the same amount of care staff however there were only one team leader, no manager, no cook and no domestic.

“This stretched the care resources. Staff told us ‘on a weekend one care staff member could be left on their own to supervise people which is dangerous’.

“It would mean if there was an incident of challenging behaviour, we wouldn't have anyone around to help as staff have to cook.”

While most staff were up to date with their training, inspectors were told by them: "The training is basic and online.

“We are a specialist service, and we need more in-depth training especially around specific subjects such as alcohol and substance misuse. We don't have enough knowledge of this.”

The report also said people’s needs were not properly assessed before they moved into the home.

“A pre-admission assessment had not been completed for the most recent respite service admission,” said inspectors.

“As a result, a vital medication was missed for two weeks. This resulted in harm to the person and hospital admission.”

Inspectors also said: “The service did not have an effective system in place to record the number of cigarettes and alcohol given daily to people.

“We found multiple examples of stocks not matching the balance on the records. There was no action taken when discrepancies were found and no system for auditing or escalating the concern.

“One person had over 20 cigarettes missing from their stock in one day, with no evidence of where they had gone. This exposed people to the risk of theft/harm.”

Concern was also raised that support was not being sought from external agencies to support people with managing or recovering from drug and alcohol misuse.

The report said: “Many people told us they had received no help, support or guidance with managing their drinking, health or wellbeing. “

A spokesperson for The Heathers said: “We are disappointed that our previous rating of ‘Good’ has been reduced following the most recent CQC inspection.

“We have already made substantial steps to redress this and we are working with the CQC to further to improve the service.”