Link House

Updated 20 June 2024

We carried out an assessment of this service between 25 June 2024 and 5 July 2024, we carried out an unannounced visit to the service on 25 June 2024. This assessment was carried out as we received concerns about the provider of this location. Link House is a residential home, for up to 8 people. At the time of our assessment 8 people were using the service. The home specialises in the care of adults under the age of 65 with a learning disability and or autistic people. Medicines were not safely managed and although people and their relatives told us they felt safe using the service, we found not enough had been done to protect people from abuse and their were significant shortfalls in the governance and management oversight of Link House. We found 6 breaches of regulation at the assessment of this service, in relation to safe care and treatment, safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment, the need for consent, person centred care, dignity and respect and the governance of the service. 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. 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 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.

Updated 20 June 2024

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it. We found people and their relatives were happy with the care and support received from the service. However, we identified people were not always receiving the best standard of care and areas of significant shortfalls were identified. We found risks were not identified, managed or monitored to ensure people were safe and protected from harm. People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.