A Doncaster care home has been rated unsafe by the health watchdog

People with learning difficulties and autism are “at risk of harm” at a Doncaster care home, the Institute of Health has revealed.

The Pleasance, in New Edlington, was put into special measures after a Care Quality Commission (CQC) investigation in December.

Inspectors said the site was unsafe and poorly managed.

Crystal Care, which runs the home, said “immediate action” had been taken to address problems identified by the CQC.

Inspectors found residents were left alone by staff in common areas and at one point a man choked on food without any support.

The CQC said the home had previously agreed plans to reduce potential future problems but the watchdog said people were still not being supported on other occasions.

In a previous inspection, the house was told to reduce the risk to people with epilepsy at night, but in December the issue was still not raised.

Inspectors said some areas of the house needed a deep clean and damaged floors to prevent infection.

Debbie Ivanova, director of people with learning disabilities and autism at the CQC, said it was “unacceptable” the care was not up to the standard people should expect.

“Because known risks were not adequately assessed and mitigated, people were exposed to significant harm,” she said.

A Crystal Care spokeswoman said they were able to “rapidly resolve” the issues raised by the CQC.

“We will focus on working closely with the staff team and local government to ensure that changes are ongoing and sustainable,” he said.

He said “significant work” had been done to address the negative comments in the inspection report and he had taken the CQC’s comments on board.

“[We] They know where we need to improve the service and take reactive measures.”

The spokesman said that they had good feedback from residents and their commitment to safety was noticed by the fact that there were no injuries.