A HEALTH watchdog has said 'procedures in place to assure fire safety were very unsafe', after a Teesside care home was rated 'inadequate'.

Upsall House Care Home in Middlesbrough was inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in November - the care home dropped from 'requires improvement to 'inadequate'.

Inspectors said that the 'fire safety was very unsafe' and 'the oversight of risk needed to be further improved'.

Within the report it said: "Repeated incidents had taken place; lessons had not been learned. Recruitment practices were inadequate.

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"A lack of robust oversight had led to deterioration in the service. Quality assurance systems were ineffective. Notifications had not been submitted to the Commission when needed. Leadership needed to be strengthened."

The care home was last inspected in May.

At this inspection, the CQC found improvements needed to be made.

They said the service has deteriorated to 'inadequate'

In the report it stated: "We received concerns in relation to recruitment, staff practices, leadership and management. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only."

The service has now been placed into 'special measures' - this means the CQC will reinspect the care home in six months to 'check for significant improvements'.

The report said: "If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe. And there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service."

However, the report went onto say: "There were enough staff on duty who knew people’s needs well. People received their medicines when they needed them. People were very happy with their care.

"The staff team worked well together. The service had good relationships with relatives and professionals."

The care home, based in Guisborough Road, provides accommodation for adults over 65-years-old who require nursing or personal care.

The care home provides personal care for up to 30 people. At the time of the inspection there were 27 people living at the service.

A spokesperson for Upsall House Care Home said: "We are very disappointed with the negative report but I can knowledge that improvements need to be made, however swift actions have been taken and issues identified have already been addressed.

"We are working internally and in partnership, with the local authority and key stakeholders to ensure the safety care and well-being of our residents, remains our upmost priority at Upsall House."

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