July 18, 2019 4.33 pm This story is over 56 months old

These are the Lincolnshire care homes rated poorly or shut down

The county has seen significant improvement in recent years
The Limes Care Home in Scopwick was previously shut down. Photo: Google

Over 40 care and nursing homes in Lincolnshire were closed through enforcement actions, placed in special measures or rated inadequate over the last five years.

Lincolnshire Reporter put in a Freedom of Information request to CQC to find out how many Lincolnshire care and nursing homes were rated as inadequate, placed in special measures and shut down over the last five years and what action was taken.

Five homes were closed through enforcement action, 17 were placed in special measures and 21 were rated as inadequate. Some of the ratings have since changed and risen up to ‘Good’, while some other homes have changed ownership.

However, Lincolnshire has seen a significant improvement in CQC ratings over the last two years according to the county council.

In February 2017, 81 providers in Lincolnshire were rated as either requires improvement or inadequate, but this figure has reduced by almost 40% to 49. In the same period Lincolnshire has gone from one service rated as outstanding to 10.

Alina Hackney, Head of People Services at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “The County Council has a particular targeted focus to work with all providers that are rated as requires improvement or inadequate to ensure that improvements are made and, in most cases, we have supported care homes to improve, as can be demonstrated by the significant increase in providers rated as good and outstanding over the last 2-3 years.

“However, where risks have been identified that cannot be safely managed we have taken the difficult decision to terminate arrangements and relocate residents to alternative accommodation. In many cases the County Council has alerted the Care Quality Commission to concerns and their inspections and enforcement action have been informed by Lincolnshire County Council’s findings.

“When CQC ratings data are compared across the country, Lincolnshire is above average with 80% of nursing homes rated as hood or outstanding compared to the national average of 75%. This figure improves for residential homes with 84% rated as good or outstanding.”

Pictures sent in to The Lincolnite by a source who revealed experienced of filthy conditions and neglect at The Limes Care Home south of Lincoln.

Five care/nursing homes that CQC closed down

  • Charlotte Rose House – Skegness
  • The Limes Care Home – Scopwick, Lincoln – residents were ‘abused, starved and left in own filth’
  • Belton Lodge Nursing Home – Grantham – closed by Notice of Proposal (NOP) due to long term dormancy
  • Cheyne House Nursing – North Carlton, Lincoln
  • Bank House Care Home – Gosberton, Spalding – According to its CQC profile action is being taken against the previous provider. The home has since been taken over by a new provider – AKD Care Limited. It is now rated as ‘Good’ overall after an inspection in February 2018

Special Measures

This includes some which are closed down and a mix of homes with active and inactive registrations. The data was recorded against care home locations in the ‘Adult social care’ Inspection Directorate in Lincolnshire local authority from November 1, 2015

Lincoln

Bourne

Spilsby

  • The Old Hall Residential Care Home (this home is now rated Good. The last inspection was in May 2019)
  • Melody Lodge

Gainsborough

Others

Inadequate

This includes some which are closed down and a mix of active and inactive registrations. The data is for care home locations in Lincolnshire local authority published since June 1, 2014.

Lincoln

  • The Limes Care Home – Scopwick
  • Cheyne House Nursing – North Carlton
  • Eagle Nursing Home – High Street, Eagle
  • Greetwell House Nursing Home
  • Cathedral Nursing Home

Spalding

  • Bank House Care Home (according to its CQC profile action is being taken against the previous provider. The home has since been taken over by a new provider – AKD Care Limited. It is now rated as ‘Good’ overall after an inspection in February 2018)
  • Capricorn Cottage (this home is now rated Good. The last inspection was in August 2018)
  • Kimberley Care Village (this home is now rated Good. The last inspection was in November 2018)

Spilsby

  • The Old Hall Residential Care Home (this home is now rated Good. The last inspection was in May 2019)
  • Melody Lodge

Gainsborough

  • Laughton Croft Care Home with Nursing (this home is now rated Good. The last inspection was in 2016)
  • Blenheim Care Centres

Grantham

  • Belvoir Home Care Home
  • Red Court Care Community

Bourne

  • Chevington House
  • Qu’Appelle Care Home

Others

  • Roxholm Hall Care Centre – Sleaford (this home is now rated Good. The last inspection was in March 2019)
  • Woodside Care Home – Skegness
  • St John’s Nursing Home – Boston
  • South Wold Nursing Home – Horncastle 
  • The Laurels Nursing Home – Market Rasen

Getting a requires improvement or inadequate rating does not necessarily mean an indicator of poor care as other factors including management and documentation are also taken into account during inspections.

The care homes may have consented to close down or closed for other reasons following an inadequate rating. Information was also not provided relating to ongoing regulatory or enforcement actions. The data was correct at the time of the FOI response on June 25, 2019.