- Care home
Anchor House - Doncaster
Assessment report published 12 June 2025
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 29 April to 13 May 2025. We visited the service on 29 April 2025 and spent time observing people’s care and reviewing records and information. Anchor House – Doncaster is a 'care home.' People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Anchor House – Doncaster is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Anchor House – Doncaster can provide personal care for up to 23 people. At the time of our inspection there were 22 people using the service, some of whom were living with dementia.
We carried out this assessment under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
We assessed and inspected the service because of concerns we had received about the quality of care and leadership and management at the service, and the length of time since the last assessment. We carried out a comprehensive assessment and inspection of the service covering all 5 key questions and all quality statements.
We found breaches of legal regulations in relation to person centred care, safe care and treatment, safeguarding people from abuse and poor governance.Accident and incidents were not reviewed or analysed to identify lessons learned. Safeguarding concerns were not always shared quickly and appropriately. Care plans and records had limited detail or information which would enable a new member of staff to know and understand people’s needs and how to care for them. The provider did not make sure equipment, facilities and technology supported the delivery of safe care. Staff were task-focussed and not deployed effectively. The provider did not assess or manage the risk of infection. Medicines were not managed safely or effectively.
People’s needs were not assessed effectively. People were not supported to live healthier lives and their health outcomes were not routinely monitored. Staff were individually kind to people but there was limited engagement between staff and people who lived in the care home. People were not engaged conversations about activities or choices and some people told us their choices were not respected.
There was no clear management or leadership in place which provided staff with guidance to follow to ensure they delivered person-centred care and support to people. There was limited evidence of engagement and involvement of people in discussions about their care and support.People’s experience of care varied and people’s sensory and emotional needs were not always met.
The provider had not shared a clear vision of how the service was to be managed and led. Leaders did not have the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively and understand what good care looks like. There was a lack of robust management and provider oversight to review shortfalls of care. Governance systems failed to assess, manage or mitigate risks relating to water, medication and infection prevention and control. This put people at risk of harm.
This service is being placed in special measures. The purpose of special measures is to ensure services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we user our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.
In instances where CQC have decided to take civil or criminal enforcement action against a provider, we will publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
People's experience of this service
People gave us mixed feedback about feeling safe and well cared for in the home. Although some people did tell us they felt safe we found people were not being protected from risk of unsafe care. Risks associated with people’s care had not been assessed and reviewed appropriately and people were not always safeguarded from the risk of abuse. At times, people were not being treated in a caring and dignified way. People did not know who to speak to if they had concerns about the service. One person told us, “I would talk to the staff. I don’t know who is in charge.” People told us staff levels could be improved. One person said, “They always seem to be too busy.” When asked if there were enough staff, we were told, “I don’t think so, you have to wait sometimes. I could do with them taking me to the toilet quicker at nighttime. There’s not many staff at night and you have to wait.”
Family members told us about the cleanliness of the home, “The bench had bare patches on and they have re-covered it. The tables in the dining room had tiles and the food used to get caught in it.” Another family member said, “I don’t know what they are doing about a cleaner, I think the staff may be doing the cleaning.” A person who lived in the care home told us, “The staff do the cleaning. There are lots of crumbs on my floor, they came yesterday.”
People told us staff were not always responsive when they pressed the call bells, “Sometimes they come quickly and other times you have to wait a while.”
People told us they thought the staff were kind. One person with a visual impairment told us about when he had fallen, “[The staff] are alright. I haven’t had any recent falls. I have been hurt a couple of times when they have said ‘Come this way’ instead of the way I know.”
People did not go out for visits and there were limited activities provided in the care home. One person told us, “[The staff] used to play games but they don’t have them now. I watch TV in my room. I have been in the garden.”
When we asked if there were residents or relative meetings a family member told us, “I don’t think so. Not when we’ve been here but we only come once a week.”
People were unsure who was in charge. One person told us, “I have no idea who is in charge.” Another person said, “I don’t know who the manager is now, probably [member of staff]. I don’t have a problem with [member of staff] and I would talk to them because they have been here a long time.”