Care workers climbed out of windows to smoke as Norfolk provider plummets from outstanding to inadequate

Dedicated Care East Anglia, an organisation supporting adults with physical and learning disabilities in King's Lynn, has been downgraded from outstanding to inadequate by the Care Quality Commission following inspectors' discovery of a series of safety failures. The CQC identified five legal regulation breaches and placed the provider in special measures. Hazel Roberts, the CQC's deputy director of adult social care for the East of England, said leadership had ignored safety concerns and failed to learn from incidents by not investigating them properly.

Staff used equipment known to be faulty to support vulnerable residents and failed to raise safeguarding concerns.

The provider said it was 'deeply disappointed' and the rating did not reflect 'positive feedback' from users and families.