Welcome House - Leeza Court

The service was last inspected in December 2019 and rated “Good”. CQC conducted a further inspection in February 2022 to monitor how the service was complying with infection prevention protocols as part of our regulatory response to the COVID-19 pandemic, however these inspections were not formally rated. We conducted this inspection due to the length of time since the last full inspection, and in response to information of concern shared with us by partner organisations.

We found that despite people having complex mental health conditions which placed them at significant risk of coming to harm, there was a lack of robust guidance on how people’s mental wellbeing would be supported proactively or how staff should respond if people were to become distressed or put themselves or others at risk through their actions. There was a lack of consistency in how people were supported depending on which staff interacted with them. This meant people were at greater risk of coming to harm through an inconsistent understanding of their needs.

People were able to use the service as they wished and were encouraged and supported to go into the community independently and take part in the things that mattered to them. There were sufficient staff at the service who were safely recruited and treated people with kindness. However, governance systems at the service were not effective and had not identified significant risks to people such as ligature or fire safety risks. People had a range of complex health conditions where there was no plan or guidance on how the service or staff should support people in staying healthy and well.

The provider had not acted with openness or integrity when allegations of abuse or neglect had been raised and failed to report these in line with requirements. Where people had restrictions put in place on their daily lives, these were not clearly assessed to determine if people lacked capacity or not and if decisions made were in their best interest.

We identified 8 breaches of legal regulation in relation to consent, safe care and treatment, safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment, person centred care, staff training, treating people with dignity and respect, failure to submit statutory notifications and good governance. This service is being placed in special measures. The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we use our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide. In instances where CQC has begun a process of regulatory action, we may publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded