Care home near York to close after damning inspection found it put residents at risk

A nursing home near York is to close after its care was rated as inadequate by inspectors.

Residents of the Lake and Orchard Residential and Nursing Home at Kelfield are being found new accommodation.

Owners Sanctuary Care have admitted it fell short of the standards expected.

A report by the Care Quality Commission, released last week, was a damning indictment of safety standards at the home. It found that

• residents were put at risk of avoidable harm
• they were not safeguarded against abuse, and
• Covid-19 guidance wasn’t always followed.

It rated the home as providing inadequate safety and leadership and placed it in special measures.

Today, a Care Quality Commission (CQC) spokesperson told YorkMix: “CQC has been working closely with North Yorkshire County Council, City of York Council and NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group with regard to Lake and Orchard care home in Kelfield and the welfare of its residents.

“We carried out inspections on 22 July, 18 and 24 August which highlighted concerns and, as a result, we are taking action with regard to the home.

“While we cannot go in to further detail at this time we will publish our full findings in due course.

“We are aware that North Yorkshire County Council and the CCG have already taken action to remove some residents from the home and we continue to work with both the councils and the CCG to ensure the safety of these people. All CQC’s action is open to appeal.”

Resident weighed just 4.5 stone

Set in 12 acres of grounds, which includes a paddock and fishing lake, the Lake and Orchard Residential and Nursing Home should have been an idyllic place to live.

It was providing care to 47 people at the time of the inspection in July, including those living with dementia. The home can support up to 90 people.

The inspection – the second in four months – “was prompted in part due to concerns received about management of people’s pressure areas, catheter care, medicines and care needs,” the report says.

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Inspectors said: “We have identified breaches in relation to person-centred care, safe care and treatment, safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment, premises and equipment, good governance and staffing.”

The report says:

• We found some evidence that people had been harmed.

  Systems were either not in place or robust enough to demonstrate safety was effectively managed.

One resident had been identified at very high risk of weight loss. They weighed just over 4 stone 7lb, but “their nutritional intake records showed opportunities to promote their food intake were regularly missed”.

Staff weren’t wearing masks

Inspectors said they had taken into account the exceptional circumstances wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic.

But “Covid-19 guidance was not always fully assessed and followed,” inspectors said. “There had been a delay in the provider testing people for Covid-19 following assurances provided to the CQC that these had taken place.”

Some staff weren’t wearing face masks. “During the inspection managers and administration started wearing surgical face masks following our request to do so.”

Fire safety was not planned for and managed.

There were too few staff, relatives and staff told inspectors. “People experienced inconsistent standards of care from staff who did not always have time to give people the care and support they needed.”

Medicines were not managed properly and people’s safety was put at risk because of poor maintenance. Bedrooms in one part of the home, currently out of use, smelled strongly of urine.