Autumn House Downgraded To Inadequate And Placed Into Special Measures

A residential care home in Sandown has been downgraded to inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and placed into special measures following an inspection which concluded in March.

Autumn House Residential Home, run by Autumn House Care Limited, provides accommodation and nursing care for older people, including residents living with dementia and mental health conditions.

The CQC said the home's overall rating has fallen from requires improvement to inadequate, with inspectors finding standards had deteriorated since a previous visit.

Inspectors identified breaches across five regulations covering safe care and treatment, safe staffing, person-centred care, consent and leadership.

Following the inspection, the CQC imposed new conditions on the home's registration, including restrictions on new admissions and a requirement for managers to provide monthly updates.

The watchdog downgraded ratings for safe, effective and well-led from requires improvement to inadequate, while caring and responsive remain rated requires improvement.

Neil Cox, CQC Deputy Director for Adult Social Care in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, said inspectors found people "still weren’t receiving care that was safe or tailored to their needs".

The CQC said staff did not always feel able to raise concerns and inspectors found examples where risks to residents' health had not been managed appropriately.

Concerns included failures around dietary needs, significant weight loss not being reported to healthcare professionals, and staff shortages affecting support and activities.

Inspectors also said some improvements had been made since the previous inspection, including action on environmental safety concerns and steps taken by a newly-appointed manager during the inspection process.

The service has now been placed into special measures, with the CQC saying it will monitor Autumn House closely while improvements are made.

The full report is expected to be published on the CQC website in the coming days.