Ardale’s Oakham Grange care home in Rutland put in special measures and rated inadequate by CQC

A care home has been put into special measures after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated it inadequate.

An unannounced inspection in April of Oakham Grange care home in Wheatfield Way, Barleythorpe was made following concerns about medicine management and allegations of neglect.

Oakham Grange, run by Ardale, provides accommodation and personal care for up to 68 people. It was providing care for 49 people at the time of the inspection.

The service, which was previously rated good, is now in special measures, which means it will be kept under close review by CQC and re-inspected to check sufficient improvements have been made.

As well as the overall rating dropping from good to inadequate following this inspection, it has also declined from good to inadequate for being safe, effective and well-led. The ratings for how caring and responsive the service is have declined from good to requires improvement.

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Craig Howarth, CQC deputy director of operations in the midlands, said: “When we inspected Oakham Grange care home, we found poor leadership.

“Our experience tells us that when a service isn’t well-led, it’s less likely they’re able to meet people’s needs in the other areas we inspect, which is what we found here.

“When we inspected, the management team already had a plan in place to make improvements, however they weren’t happening fast enough to keep people safe.

“We found people weren’t always kept safe from abuse.

“For example, someone had hit another person, and the incident wasn’t referred for investigation until a week later when the inspector raised concerns. The service also hadn’t updated the person’s care plan to help staff know what to do if the person was aggressive to others in the future.

“This puts people at risk of harm.”

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Further issues raised were a ‘serious lack of staff training’, medicines not always being managed safely, and no nurses in service at nighttime.

Inspectors did praise the safe recruitment checks to ensure staff were of good character, that people’s communication needs were met and residents could take part in activities in the home.

The care home management has been informed of the CQC rating and have created an action plan.

Mr Howarth said: “We will return to inspect and if sufficient progress hasn’t been made and embedded. We will not hesitate to take further action to ensure people’s safety and wellbeing.”

A full report can be found on the CQC’s website.