Lincolnshire disability and autism service placed in special measures

A service for people with autism and learning disabilities has been placed in special measures after inspectors rated it “inadequate”.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) report said Healthlinc House in Welton, Lincolnshire, had insufficient staff to deliver safe care to their patients.

Poor staffing also led to people staying too long and being put at risk of institutionalisation.

The CQC made an unannounced inspection in April, after they were alerted to issues surrounding the safety and quality of the care being provided. It found a number of issues including a reliance on agency workers, some of whom did not have the appropriate training, and a shortage of permanent staff.

Debbie Ivanova, deputy chief inspector at the CQC for people with a learning disability and autistic people, said “It was unacceptable that poor discharge management meant some people spent years at the service when their needs may have been better served elsewhere.

“Behind these issues was a failure of leadership.

“Leaders did not have oversight of the service to identify problems or articulate a vision for how it should improve.”

A spokesperson for Elysium Health, who runs the site, said “The safety and wellbeing of our residents is our highest priority.

“The results of the inspection were disappointing, but we immediately implemented a significant quality improvement plan.

“As it has now been over three months since the inspection, the improvements we have made are well embedded.”

Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist team of clinical negligence lawyers have years of experience in medical negligence claims, providing support and guidance after life-changing events. Not only do we represent clients in Yorkshire, but because of our reputation we also represent clients nationally.

If you believe that you or a relative may have been injured as a result of clinical/medical negligence, please call for free legal advice from our medical negligence solicitors on the freephone number below.

Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

Freephone : 0800 304 7382