A BRADFORD care home has been rated inadequate and placed in special measures following an inspection from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The health watchdog brought forward its inspection of Howgate House, on Howgate, Idle, forward because it “received information of concern about the standards of care, leadership and management and staffing”.

At a previous inspection in 2018, the home was judged as ‘requires improvement’. It is now inadequate overall and in every area apart from the ‘is the service caring?’ question.

Inspectors said in their report: “There were not always enough suitable qualified staff on duty. There were times when people were left for long periods of time with little or no social interactions. A relative told us they thought the service was short staffed.”

Staff were said to be kind and caring, but some “lacked awareness of people’s cultural needs”.

The report also raised concerns that risks to people’s safety and welfare were not always managed properly.

"People’s medicines, particularly cream and lotions were not always well managed,” it said.

People’s care records were not always up to date and accurate, decisions made in people’s best interests were not always clearly recorded and it was said the provider was not able to demonstrate lessons had been learnt when things went wrong.

Inspectors also said it was not able to demonstrate that people’s feedback was acted on to make improvements. The home was found to be in breach of a number of regulations and must send a report to the CQC outlining the action it will take.

Despite the inadequate rating, the report highlighted: “The new manager was clearly committed to making improvements to the service. They had started to carry out audits and checks.

"They had identified and started work on areas which needed improvement.

"Staff received training and told us they felt supported by the new manager and deputy manager." 

A spokesperson from Howgate House said senior managers are supporting staff at the care home in order to ensure that the necessary improvements are made and sustained.

"We look forward to demonstrating improvements when CQC next visit," said the spokesperson. Meanwhile, the Links Care Centre, Kismet Gardens, Bradford Moor, has improved from inadequate to requires improvement. It was inspected in March.

“During this inspection the service demonstrated improvements have been made and are ongoing,” said the CQC.

“The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall.”

There was no-one available for comment from the home.