A HOME which provides care for adults living with mental health conditions has been branded inadequate and placed in special measures.

Health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out unannounced inspections of The Links Care Centre, Kismet Gardens, Bradford Moor, in July.

Inspectors visited due to an increase in notifications which raised concerns about the safety of the service, the suitability of the environment and management of risk, said a report.

In looking at safety, inspectors said: “We found there were not effective systems in place to assess, monitor and reduce risks to ensure people were kept safe. Risk assessments were not always correctly completed, comprehensive and fit for purpose.”

They said that "robust systems" were not in place to ensure people were protected from the risk of abuse.

The report highlighted: "Potential safeguarding risks had not always been fully assessed and appropriate actions taken to reduce risk. For example, one person had been involved in multiple potential safeguarding incidents whilst accessing the local community."

Concerns were also raised about the use of restraint, with inspectors noting: "Procedures regarding the use of restraint needed improving to ensure staff only used restraint when it was absolutely necessary, proportionate and lawful."

The environment of the home was said to be "poorly maintained" with unsafe aspects, as well as "poor standards of cleanliness" throughout and "poor infection control practices".

The report also revealed people had said the standard of food was poor and they did not always receive enough to eat and drink. Inspectors said people's privacy was not always respected and some staff lacked awareness and consideration about the things that mattered to people.

A spokesperson for the The Links Care Centre said: "Our residents are always our first priority and we always seek to deliver the highest quality of care to them.We welcome all feedback to help us achieve this and we are grateful to CQC for providing such detailed material for us to identify areas of improvement. Care Worldwide (The Links) Limited bought The Links in February 2018 after it had been in administration for a number of years with full knowledge that there were many issues to rectify. Care Worldwide (The Links) Limited is committed to put [sic] all resources in to successfully turn The Links around.

"Following the inspection in the summer, new management and additional support and resource have been put into the service. As a result of this we have already seen significant improvements in the quality and continuity of care and we expect to see dramatic progress over the next few months. We have been and continue to work closely with the LA who have been supportive and CQC to address their concerns and improve the service. We anticipate that CQC will return to re-inspect within the next month or so and we are very hopeful that they will recognise the improvements we have made and that this will be reflected in the next rating we are given."