A BRADFORD care home which has required improvement at its last four inspections has now been placed into special measures.

Holly Park Care Home, in Clayton, has been rated inadequate by the health watchdog the Care Quality Commission.

The home, which cares for people with dementia or other mental health conditions, was found to have not made enough improvements since the last inspection two years ago and was still in breach of regulations.

This time, inspectors looked solely at whether the service was safe and well-led, and both these were found to be inadequate, prompting the drop in overall rating.

A report published recently states: “At the last inspection on 29 April 2019 and 1 May 2019, breaches of legal requirements were found.

“The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve person centred care, safe care and treatment, good governance and staffing.

“We undertook this focused inspection to check the provider had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements.”

It added: “At this inspection not enough improvement had been made and the provider was still in breach of regulations. The service had deteriorated to inadequate.

“This service has been rated either inadequate or requires improvement for the last five consecutive inspections.”

The report goes on to say that medicines were not always managed safely and infection control practices were not sufficiently robust.

People did not have an accurate and complete care record and the care records were not person-centred.

There was also not enough information to demonstrate the provider was working effectively with other healthcare professionals to

ensure care was provided and planned in a timely manner.

The provider’s audit systems were not effective as breaches from the previous inspection had not been addressed.

However, the report did add that people and staff told inspectors there were enough staff to meet people’s needs and that the manager and staff were approachable.

In addition safe recruitment processes were in place to ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Relatives also told the CQC they were kept up to date with management changes and about their family member.

A spokesperson for the home said: “Holly Park has been providing a much needed service over the last 20 years to the local area and over this period has helped thousands of elderly people.

“Over the pandemic period the hard work done by the staff at the home and the support provided to the local residents has been phenomenal.

“Unfortunately the home, whilst focusing on direct care delivery, has not managed to ensure that the paperwork to demonstrate this care has been always updated.

“The home is working actively with all the relevant stakeholders and is confident it will meet all requirements in the very near future.”

Due to the inadequate rating, the care home is now expected to be reinspected in six months time.