The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is taking action to protect the safety and welfare of people with learning disabilities using a care home in Streatham, southwest London following an inspection that found it to be inadequate.
CQC inspectors visited 25 Garrads Road, run by CareTech Community Services Ltd, in May and rated it inadequate overall. It was also inadequate for being safe, effective and well-led. It requires improvement for caring and being responsive.
The service accommodates up to 14 people who have a learning disability and may need mental health services. At the time of the inspection there were 12 people using the service.
CareTech had safeguarding policies in place to give staff guidance to protect people from abuse. However, people were at risk of abuse because the registered manager had not promptly raised allegations of financial abuse.
Inspectors identified that staff had mishandled people’s money because money was being lent between people using the service, their financial records were not calculated correctly and did not always match the money available to them. Following the inspection, the CQC referred the concerns to the local authority safeguarding team.
Debbie Ivanova, deputy chief inspector of adult social care, said: “People who use residential care homes are entitled to services which provide safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care.
“We found breaches of regulations were related to person-centred care, safe care and treatment, safeguarding people from abuse and improper treatment, premises and equipment, good governance, and staffing. CQC is considering the appropriate regulatory response to resolve the problems we found in respect of these regulations.
“We are now taking further action in line with our enforcement policy and will report further on this when the legal process is complete.”
