Care home in special measures after inspection

A residential home in Wakefield has been placed in special measures after failing to make improvements to its care.

Experts from watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) downgraded Advent House's rating to inadequate after finding breaches of regulations around person-centred care, safeguarding and overall management.

Victoria Marsden, CQC's regional deputy director of operations, said it was "concerning" that relatives did not feel their loved ones were safe.

A spokesperson for service provider Ark Specialist Healthcare LLP said: "The safety, dignity and wellbeing of the people we support remains our absolute priority and we are treating this outcome with the urgency and focus it demands."

CQC inspectors said the service had "deteriorated further" since a previous inspection.

They found staff had been carrying out physical interventions on service users against the advice of healthcare professionals and had raised a safeguarding concern with the local authority.

Marsden said: "We found leaders were responsible for a culture where people weren't treated as individuals or placed at the centre of their own care.

"There was very little evidence that the service was respecting, or attempting to identify, people's individual strengths, preferences or aspirations."

She said staff told inspectors they spoke with service users, but most of the individuals had limited verbal communication.

"This meant people couldn't express their needs or preferences so weren't receiving care that was tailored to them," she added.

Most people's risk assessments had not been updated since 2024, meaning staff may not have known how to keep them safe.

People did not have access to meaningful activities or chances to go out often due to lack of staff, and areas of the home were unclean.

The service relied heavily on agency staff but did not always ensure they had induction training, spoke English, or had the information they needed to meet people's care needs.

In a statement, Ark Specialist Healthcare LLP said the report did not "fully reflect the complexity of the service or the progress made in some areas since the inspection concluded in February".

A spokesperson added: "Whilst we respect the role of the CQC in holding providers to account, we have carefully reviewed the report and lodged a formal challenge of some areas of its content."

However, the company said it had developed a "comprehensive improvement plan" - including better oversight by leaders, enhanced staff training and improved safeguarding procedures.

The CQC said it was monitoring the home closely to keep people safe while "immediate and significant" changes were implemented.

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