Castleford care home placed under special measures and rated 'inadequate' by CQC after 'infestation of maggots' reported

Holes in the walls and loose electrical sockets were also found during the five visits to Westmead between April and July last year.

The residential care home, which provides accommodation and personal care to people with learning disabilities, was rated “inadequate” by the CQC following the visits; with leadership issues being noted as a particular problem.

The Bridge Community Care Limited, which runs the site, said it was “deeply disappointed” with the findings but that it had taken “immediate action”.

It said there is now “a stable and embedded management team in place“ and that the “service is in a very different place”.

At the time of the inspection the service was at full capacity with nine people living at the home.

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received relating to staffing levels, managing people’s needs, medication management, the living environment and the effectiveness of leaders.

Shiela Grant, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said: “Our experience tells us that when a service isn’t well-led, it’s less likely they’re able to meet people’s needs in the other areas we inspect, which is what we found at Westmead.”

She said that staff were not adequately safeguarding people from abuse as they “didn’t feel confident raising concerns”.

Ms Grant added that there was not safe environment, saying: “We found holes in walls and loose electrical sockets. We observed damage to the flooring and staff told us there had been a maggot infestation between the floorboards.

“Also, a carpet had been glued to the floor without any underlay, resulting in a very hard surface. All of this put people at risk of harm.”

They also found that leaders were not managing staffing to support people’s individual needs and that there had been an increase of incidents as a result.

Ms Grant said: “Some staff described incidents which could have been prevented if the staff team were more skilled, knowledgeable and confident about people’s needs.

For more stories like this and all of the latest breaking news and sport from Leeds, sign up today for your free newsletter from the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“Additionally, two people had been served notice that they had to leave the service as they could no longer meet their needs. When we asked the management team, it was clear the decision wasn’t founded on solid evidence and the provider hadn’t explored alternatives to enable them to remain at Westmead.

“We expect to see rapid and widespread improvements and will continue to monitor people living at Westmead closely to keep them safe while this happens.”

A spokesperson for The Bridge Community Care Limited said: “Naturally, we were deeply disappointed with the outcome of the inspection and this fell short of the highest standards we set ourselves.”

They said that two manager changes in quick succession had “undoubtedly impacted on the running of the home” and that one registered manager had only started the day before the initial inspection visit.

They said: “We now have a stable and embedded management team in place and the improvements are clear to see. The service is now in a very different place than during CQC’s inspection last year.

“Since the inspection last year, we have had time to take active steps to address the regulator’s concerns and remain entirely focused on ensuring the improvements are sustained. Our primary consideration is the safety and well-being of those we care for.”