A dementia care home in Battersea has been deemed inadequate by the Care and Quality Commission after an inspection carried out in September.

York Court care home, in Battersea Park Road, is due to close in December in the wake of a damning report which reveals six breaches of health and safety regulations.

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In the report, published in November, inspectors found that the home had failed to notify the CQC about safeguarding procedures which were ongoing.

The report states: "There had been an allegation that an agency nurse was putting a medicine dispenser too far into the mouth of a service user, an allegation of assault, poor care of a suture injury, and an allegation of abuse.

"One of these safeguarding concerns had been reported by a visiting healthcare professional and not picked up by staff in the service."

Inspectors examined care plans for residents and found that some residents had no behaviour management plans in place and that residents at risk of malnutrition were not having their needs met.

Residents were left in bed until 11am, and another left sleeping with their head on a table.

The home's reliance on agency staff meant that residents were unfamiliar with people caring for them.

The report found: "Most of the people we spoke with had little idea who was managing the service.

"One person explained that the manager was always downstairs and as they needed a care worker to help them get to the ground floor they had not seen the current manager.

"Another person laughed when they were asked about the manager, they said that this was the, "eighth" since they had been in the home.

"A visitor said that they could think of nothing positive to say about the management of the home."

In previous inspections, the home was marked inadequate in many categories, and as requiring improvement in others.

Inspectors found six breaches of health and safety regulations in accordance with the 2014 act, but no enforcement was taken.

A spokesman from York Court, said: "After careful consideration Four Seasons Health Care announced in September that it would close York Court Care Home.

"We took the decision for a combination of reasons. The home had been unable to recruit and retain permanent staff of the right calibre, because of a national shortage of nurses, so it had been reliant on temporary agency nurses to maintain staffing levels.

"This necessary high use of temporary staff contributed to ongoing concerns about care provision being below the standard we expect to provide.

"We decided that in these circumstances we would rather close the home than provide care that is not up to our standard.

"The home had been operating at a loss for some time.

"The wellbeing of residents is our priority, as it is for the Wandsworth Council, and we have been working closely with the Social Services team to ensure that the residents and their families are supported to find suitable alternative placements with no disruption to their care.

"There are 17 residents remaining in the home with plans to transfer them imminently to a new care setting."

A spokesman for Wandsworth Council said: "The borough’s safeguarding team is currently investigating a number of concerns about the quality of care being offered at this home.

"We are working closely with colleagues in the NHS to carefully monitor the welfare of residents and ensure they receive proper care and support and we are also liaising closely with health service regulator The Care Quality Commission.

"We have been told the company that owns and runs the home, Four Seasons Healthcare, has decided to close it and so part of our focus now is on working with our NHS colleagues to find suitable alternative care home places for the residents."

Do you have a relative in York Court? Call the newsdesk on 020 8722 35 or email newsdesk@wandsworthguardian.co.uk