A DEMENTIA home has been told to improve its safety after inspectors from the Care Quality Commission labelled it inadequate for the second time in one year.

Bradford Council's Adult Services has reacted to the findings by moving 17 of its clients out to an alternative home after St Paul’s Lodge, in Shipley, was put in special measures.

CQC inspectors, who visited unannounced in July and August this year, found the home owned by Just Global to still be failing 12 months after a previous inadequate ranking.

A spokesman for Bradford Council said: "Bradford Council moved 17 people out of St Paul's Lodge and supported them to find alternative accommodation. They were moved because of the CQC's findings."

The findings in the latest inspectors' report said there were not enough staff at the home to keep residents safe and there were no policies in place to protect people from abuse. Care plans lacked sufficient detail to guide staff, medicines were not being cold-stored or managed properly and residents who had lost weight were not being helped to stay healthy.

The report also pointed out that residents were being put at risk because the home had failed to report safeguarding incidents to the local authority and neither had they notified the CQC.

MORE HEALTH HEADLINES

Improvements were also needed to make it easier for people living with dementia to find their way around the home, said the report.

Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North, said: “Whilst we saw that some improvements had started to be made there were still significant concerns about the care being provided at St Paul’s Lodge, some issues continuing from our previous inspection in October 2014.

“People are entitled to services which provide safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care and we have told the provider that they must take action to resolve the issues we have identified as a priority. Following our visit, the local authority made a decision to move current residents to alternative accommodation where their needs could be fully met. Given the continued shortfall in standards of care, we have placed this service in special measures and made it clear where action must be taken to address the concerns identified."

The CQC will re-inspect the home within six months to check if enough improvements have been made.

"If we find that the service being provided remains inadequate, we will consider taking further steps to cancel its registration with CQC," said Ms Westhead.

St Paul's Lodge, part of the Just Global Ltd group, failed to respond to a request for a comment from the Telegraph & Argus.