Mencap provides care and support to more than 5,000 people with learning disabilities living in their own homes, and at more than 170 registered services across England, Wales and Northern Ireland; the majority of which are regulated and inspected by the Care Quality Commission.
In December 2014, following a routine Care Quality Commission (CQC) Inspection, failures in the service delivery at Drummond Court were identified. Mencap immediately agreed an action plan for improvement.
In August 2015, as part of our quality assurance framework, we identified that actions within the improvement plan had not been implemented and urgent work was undertaken, including notifying the CQC. We also notified all relevant local authorities and families of the unacceptable nature of the situation. Since August we have made changes to the leadership team, and have improved our monitoring systems. The CQC is expected to publish a follow-up report on the situation shortly.
We deeply regret that the agreed actions in December 2014, and consequent service improvements, were not made to the degree and standard we would have expected. We haven't delivered the quality of service to the individuals living in Drummond Court that we would expect. We apologise unreservedly to each of the people and their families for this service failure. This service failure has been due to poor leadership and insufficient use of our management information systems.
Our priority now is to ensure that the people at Drummond Court are supported to lead independent and happy lives. We will continue to monitor closely the service improvements we have put in place to provide stability for the people we support over the coming months and years. When we have delivered on our promises we hope we will be able to start rebuilding the trust and support of the people living at Drummond Court, their families and relevant local authorities.