The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has downgraded the rating of Drumconner Lancing Care Home in West Sussex from good to inadequate and placed it into special measures to protect people following an inspection in August.
Drumconner Lancing, operated by Drumconner Limited, is a care home providing accommodation, nursing care, and personal care for up to 60 people. At the time of the inspection, Drumconner Limited had applied to increase this maximum number of people living there, but CQC refused the request due to concerns about the quality of care identified during the inspection. Despite the registered limit, there were 67 people living at the service at the time of the inspection, which constituted a breach of their registration conditions.
CQC carried out this inspection as part of its routine monitoring of care services.
Inspectors found care had deteriorated, and the service was now in breach of six regulations related to safe care and treatment, safeguarding, staffing, dignity and respect, person-centred care, and good management of the service.
Following the inspection CQC issued Drumconner Limited a warning notice to highlight the areas where rapid and significant improvements were needed.
CQC has downgraded the areas of safe and well-led from good to inadequate. Caring, effective and responsive have also declined from good to requires improvement.
CQC has also placed the service into special measures which involves close monitoring to ensure people are safe while they make improvements. Special measures also provides a structured timeframe so services understand when they need to make improvements by, and what action CQC will take if this doesn’t happen.
Amy Jupp, CQC’s deputy director for West Sussex, said:
“When we inspected Drumconner Lancing, we saw the impact that poor leadership and disorganised care had on the people living there. People told us they often waited long periods for help when they pressed their call bells, leaving them anxious and uncomfortable. Some were left in bed until late in the morning, which restricted their freedom and independence.
“These are people’s homes, not just workplaces, and they should feel safe, respected, and listened to. Instead, they were living in an environment where risks weren’t managed, where incidents went unreported, and where people’s basic rights were overlooked. For example, not managing the risk of people falling in the areas around stairs.
“Leaders failed to act on known safety concerns, and staff were working without the training and guidance they needed to provide consistent, person-centred care. We also found the home was operating beyond its registered capacity, meaning people’s safety, privacy, and comfort were being compromised.
“We’ve told Drumconner Lancing where they must make immediate and significant improvements. We will continue to monitor them closely to make sure people are safe while these changes take place. Everyone deserves to live in a place where they are treated with kindness, dignity, and respect, and we will not hesitate to take further action if that doesn’t happen.”
Inspectors found:
- Care plans were incomplete and did not guide staff effectively.
- Staff didn’t always report safeguarding incidents to the local authority.
- Management systems failed to identify and act on patterns of harm or poor practice.