- Care home
Drumconner Lancing
Assessment report published 14 January 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Dates of assessment 05 August to 26 August 2025. Drumconner Lancing is a care home, providing accommodation, nursing and personal care to a maximum of 60 people. At the time of our assessment there were 67 people living at the service this was a breach of the providers registration conditions. Our inspection was prompted due to the length of time since our last inspection. At this inspection we identified 6 breaches of the legal regulation relating to safe care and treatment, safeguarding, staffing, dignity and respect, person centred care and good governance.
There were widespread and significant concerns in relation to risk management, including failure to identify, assess and mitigate risks of falls and environmental risks. Incidents were not effectively monitored and analysed to support learning. People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not always support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.
Incidents and safeguarding concerns were not always responded to, which meant staff and management did not put actions in place to mitigate reoccurrence. We found shortfalls relating to staff deployment and training. The provider failed to ensure they deployed a systematic approach to staffing levels that ensured people received support in a timely manner. Staff did not always receive effective training or support to monitor and improve learning and practice. For example, staff had not completed dementia or positive behavioural support training. Governance systems and audits were not effective in identifying or addressing areas for improvement.
Medicines systems were operating safely, and peoples were supported by regular reviews with health professionals. Visiting health professionals provided positive feedback on their experience of working with the team at Drumconner Lancing.
We have assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. The provider had failed to ensure all staff had received training in relation to supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people. This increased the risk of people not always receiving support in line with current guidance.
This service is being placed in special measures. The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we use 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 has begun a process of regulatory action, we may publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded, if the action has been taken forward. We have also asked the provider for an action plan in response to some of the concerns found at this assessment.
People's experience of this service
People consistently told us that staff were caring but seemed very busy. They told us of significant delays when they requested support. One person told us, “The staff look after me well but there are not enough of them. I have waited up to an hour when I have rung the bell”. During the inspection we found people experienced significant delays when calling for staff support. This was corroborated by our observations and records associated with call bell systems. This increased the risk of harm to people.
We spoke to people and their relatives and whilst they expressed that they were generally happy with their care, our assessment found care did not meet the expected standards. Not all people were able to verbally communicate with us; we used observational tools such as SOFI (Short Observational Framework for Inspection) to gather peoples experiences of care and support. People were at risk as staff did not have the appropriate information, care plans and guidance to ensure risks and needs were met safely. This meant people were at potential risk of not always receiving safe care. Whilst people told us they felt safe when staff were providing care, people were not always protected by robust oversight and governance processes. The provider did not always ensure staff understood peoples rights around consent and staff did not always respect their rights when delivering care and treatment. People and their relatives were positive about the staff and described them as kind and caring.