Northampton care provider for adults with learning disabilities placed in special measures after failures including unexplained bruising and medication errors

Social Care Solutions Limited (Northampton), based in Moulton Park, was inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) between April 30 and May 14, this year, when the service was supporting 19 people with personal care, across eight supported living schemes.

The CQC carried out a comprehensive assessment in response to concerns about the service, which had not been inspected since its registration in October 2023.

During the inspection, the CQC found a number of failures, including unexplained bruising and medication errors, as well as five breaches of regulation.

This led inspectors to place the service in special measures and give it a rating of ‘inadequate’, overall and in all five categories.

The five breaches of regulation related to dignity and respect, safe care and treatment, good management, staffing, and fit and proper persons employed. The CQC issued a warning notice in relation to good management, and has told the service to submit an action plan showing what action it is taking in response to these concerns.

In the report published this week, inspectors said: “Staff didn’t adequately support people to keep their homes safe and well-maintained.

“Leaders didn’t ensure that staff received the required training to support people’s specific needs.

“Staff lacked training in the management of diabetes, epilepsy, and dysphagia, and in best practice for interacting with autistic people or people with a learning disability.

“The service failed to update care plans and risk assessments, leaving staff without an understanding of how to meet people’s current needs.”

Inspectors also added that the service had safe recruitment processes in place, but the manager failed to use them effectively and staff lacked oversight over the management of people’s medicines.

Craig Howarth, CQC deputy director of operations in Northamptonshire, said: “During our inspection of Social Care Solutions Limited (Northampton), we had serious concerns about how the service was run and the effect this had on the people it supported. Although people were generally happy with the care they received, we found it wasn’t safe and failed to meet expected standards.

“Our inspectors found incidents including physical altercations, falls, unexplained bruising and medication errors where staff either delayed reporting concerns or leaders failed to investigate properly.

“Experience has shown us that services without strong leadership are less likely to meet people’s needs in the other areas we inspect, which is what we found here.

“We have told Social Care Solutions where urgent changes are needed, and we will monitor the service closely to make sure they improve and keep people safe.”

A Social Care Solutions Limited spokesperson added: “The CQC’s April 2025 inspection highlighted concerns about care quality in Northampton.

“We accept the findings of the report and we are sorry that these services have fallen below the high-quality standards we expect.

“We have taken swift action to address the concerns raised in the CQC report, including changes in leadership and retraining staff at the service to embed and ensure lasting improvement.

“We are committed to continually improving and, where we fall short, we act decisively to make it right.”

The report will be published on CQC’s website in the coming days.