Yorkshire care home in special measures after inspectors found residents were being unlawfully locked in rooms

New Haven care home in South Elmsall was given the lowest rating of inadequare by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after it was inspected in November.

The inspection was prompted after concerns were raised about management, the CQC said.

Inspectors found the care home to be unsafe and that staff were acting against the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) by locking residents in their room.

The report read: “The MCA requires, as far as possible, people make their own decisions and are helped to do so when needed. When they lack mental capacity to take particular decisions, any made on their behalf must be in their best interests and as least restrictive as possible.

“People were being locked in their bedrooms without appropriate assessments in place.

“The service was seeking consent from relatives without the legal authorisation to do so.

“For people who had agreed to havetheir door locked; this decision had not been reviewed for four years.”

Inspectors said management had addressed the problem of locking residents in their room while the inspection took place.

But a litany of other safety failures were identified by the CQC at the home, which has some 39 residents most of whom have dementia.

Medication had not been managed safely, and one resident at risk of weight loss had an inadequate care plan.

Patients, relatives and staff had all raised concerns with the CQC about staffing levels with workers detailing that they weren’t able to find time to eat on shift.

On one occasion inspectors saw a resident wait for over half an hour for a staff member to answer their call-bell, and it turned out they had not received their breakfast, a drink or personal care until 10.25 am.

PPE rules at the time of the inspection were also not followed, with staff wearing their masks around their chins.

The home now has six months to improve or face closure under CQC guidelines.

New Haven Care Home was contacted for comment.