Hi,

I have concerns about a resident with learning disabilities in a care home. However, the care home only has three residents and is therefore deregistered I believe. Who would I contact please?

Thank you

Answered by Sheila Scott

Dear Judith,

Thank you for your question.

All care homes have to be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

If it is a form of housing that you are talking about with care provided by an outside provider then the provider of care will still be registered.

I am presuming that the reason you are concerned is that you suspect some form of abuse. The various types of abuse that may occur include:

Physical abuse

• Sexual abuse
• Psychological or emotional abuse
• Financial or material abuse
• Discriminatory abuse
• Organisational or institutional abuse
• Neglect or acts of omission

There are three organisations that you can contact who should be able to advise you further:

• The Police if you suspect a serious and possible criminal form of abuse
• The Safeguarding Board of your local Council. Go to the Council’s website and put Safeguarding into the search engine and you should find all the advice that you need
• The Care Quality Commission who will also be able to advise you what to do

There is also useful information on the Social Care Institute for Excellence on this subject:

https://www.scie.org.uk/adults/safeguarding/abuse-neglect/

I know how difficult deciding what action to take can be so if you want to discuss this with me privately please send another email.

Best wishes,

Sheila