COMMENT: Unacceptable those in need should be put at such risk

One of the latest reports by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found that residents at the Beaconsfield Residential Care Home in Nelson Road were ‘at risk’ and a case in which one went missing overnight.

The damning report found all areas of care at the establishment – which had been given a ‘requires improvement’ rating in 2017 – where ‘inadequate’ and it was placed into special measures after the inspection late last year.

As a result Portsmouth City Council is stopping referrals to the home, which provides personal care for up to 22 people with mental health conditions, learning disabilities and addictions.

While it is right and proper that the council is halting referrals, surely there is a case for those who currently reside there to be relocated until those running the home get their act together.

It is unacceptable in this day and age – or any day and age for that matter – that residents should be at such risk.

These places exist so the lives of those people it caters for can be made as safe and comfortable as possible in the hands of experts and those who know how to deal with conditions that the average family can’t.

The CQC report said: ‘People were not safe and were at risk of avoidable harm.

‘Most people were living with mental health conditions including schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, alcohol dependency, behaviours that challenged and hoarding.

‘Appropriate assessments of the risks associated with these conditions had not been undertaken and plans to reduce any risks or ensure they could be managed if they occurred had not been developed.’

Surely those are the basics of any care home who are engaged to care for people with those conditions.