Sheffield care home branded 'inadequate' and placed into special measures following damning inspection

Croftacres care home on Hibbard Road, Malin Bridge, was heavily criticised following an unannounced visit from the Care Quality Commission and was given the lowest score possible in all five areas of inspection.

The home's management, safety, effectiveness, responsiveness and care were all branded 'inadequate'.

Croftacres was also told it needed to make improvements following an inspection in 2015.

Inspectors found ten breaches of the Health & Social Care Act 2008 in relation to safety, staffing, dignity of care and complaints.

Read the full report here

A report published by the CQC said the home's website advertised specialist care for people living with dementia but inspectors found staff were not specifically trained to understand the needs of people who had been diagnosed with any form of dementia.

Some people living in the home told inspectors they 'did not feel safe' and the staffing levels caused concern.

One family member told inspectors: "I believe my relative is at risk, it is not safe here at times."

Another relative said: "The people who live here are too challenging, the staff cannot keep them all safe."

The report said inspectors found a member of staff had brought a DBS from their previous employer which showed the person had multiple convictions from a number of years earlier. Inspectors added there had been 'no risk assessment carried out' to ensure the person was suitable to work with vulnerable adults.

Inspectors also described staff training as 'poor' while others some lived at the home labelled the food as 'appalling'.

The report also noted there was no record of complaints for inspectors to look at.

A spokesman from the CQC said: "The overall rating for this service is 'inadequate’ and the service is therefore in special measures. Services in special measures will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider’s registration of the service, will be inspected again within six months.

The Star contacted Croftacres but nobody was available to comment.