York care home with one resident told to improve by CQC

Yearsley Villa, a small residential care home in Huntington Road, has been rated ‘requires improvement’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following its latest inspection.

The care home provides support for two people, both of whom have mental health needs, but only one person was under its care at the time of the inspection in May, according to the CQC’s report.

Inspectors visited the home from May 7 to May 21 and said they found “significant improvements were required to ensure safe, effective, and well-led care”.

Yearsley Villa declined to comment.

Yearsley Villa, a small residential care home in Huntington Road, has been rated ‘requires improvement’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following its latest inspection (Image: Google)

Inspectors said people had not been affected by the “shortfalls identified”, but “people were put at potential risk of poor care due to the concerns found during the inspection”.

They said the care home was “receptive to feedback during the inspection and had started to make some improvements, including updating documentation”. “However, these changes were not yet embedded or sufficient to demonstrate sustained improvement.”

In their report, inspectors said care records at the home “were often incomplete, inconsistent, or lacked detail, and did not always reflect people’s current needs or how care should be delivered”. “There was limited evidence of person-centred planning, including people’s preferences, routines, and goals.

“Risks were not always assessed or mitigated effectively. Risk assessments were either missing or lacked sufficient detail in key areas such as mental health, finances, and behaviours.

“Following incidents, there was limited evidence of review or learning, and appropriate safeguarding notifications had not always been submitted, which is a regulatory requirement.”

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Inspectors also raised concerns over how medicines were managed at the care home.

They said people were described as “self-medicating” but there were no “clear risk assessments, capacity assessments, or consistent systems to monitor this safely”.

“There were also shortfalls in staff training and recruitment practices,” the report said. “Training was out of date in key areas and recruitment checks had not been consistently completed in line with the provider’s own policy.”

Inspectors raised further concerns about decision-making processes at the care home, which they said “were not always in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005”.

They found that “capacity assessments and best interest decisions were either absent or not decision-specific, meaning we could not be assured that people’s rights were consistently protected”.

Watchdog finds people satisfised with care but raises concerns over systems

Meanwhile, inspectors said “people expressed satisfaction with their care” and were “positive about their experience of living at the service”, but “found the systems in place did not always support consistent, person-centred care”.

They also found that the facility was caring, writing: “Providers knew people well and we observed kind and compassionate interactions, with people treated with dignity and respect.

“People were supported to maintain relationships and access the community, and feedback reflected a relaxed, family-style environment.

“The environment was safe, clean, and well maintained, with appropriate safety checks in place.

“The provider collaborated with external professionals, including mental health teams, to support people when their needs changed.”