Residents ‘unlawfully locked’ in bedrooms and water supply cut at care home

A care home has been criticised by inspectors after it “unlawfully locked” residents in rooms and cut off the water supply.

Rosebank Lodge in Mitcham Park, Mitcham, which provides care to people with a learning disability and autistic people, was given an ‘inadequate’ rating from the Care Quality Commission(CQC) after inspectors discovered many problems.

The unannounced inspection was carried out to follow up on concerns shared with CQC about the care being provided to people.

It found that people were being unlawfully locked in their bedrooms and that unlawful restraint was being used by staff. 

Rosebank Lodge has now been placed in special measures and could be closed down if “swift and significant improvements aren’t made”.

James Frewin, CQC head of adult social care inspection, said: “We carried out an unannounced inspection of Rosebank Lodge to follow up on concerns that people were being unlawfully deprived of their liberty.

“People were locked in their bedrooms, their water supply was cut off and inspectors saw one person being unlawfully restrained by staff.

“People’s rights were clearly not being respected and the service had a closed culture where people weren’t supported to live freely from unwarranted restrictions.

“The service has breached regulations relating to consent, safeguarding, improper treatment and good governance, but we have been assured by management that door locks have now been removed and people are able to move freely around their home.”

The inspection found that people living at Rosebank Lodge did not have “maximum control” over their lives.

CQC also said there was no clear guidance in place about how staff should respond safely to one person who was at particular risk of choking.

Medication wasn’t always managed safely so people were at risk of receiving the wrong medicine or dose, or sometimes didn’t receive it at all.

A spokes woman for Achieve Together, the providers of care at Rosebank Lodge, have been approached said: “We very much regret that we missed the opportunity to challenge the findings of this report.

“We have a robust policy on restriction reduction and through our own internal risk profiling and quality support provided to all our homes, prior to the inspection we were proactive in changing the management at the service by introducing leadership with a track record of leading Outstanding rated services. The positive impact of this is now being embedded throughout all aspects of the service.

“We do not accept that the context of this report accurately reflects the observations made during the time of inspection. The service was rated Good in February 2022 and remains rated Good in Effective, Responsive and Caring.”

Pictured top: Rosebank Lodge in Mitcham Park (Picture: Google Street View)