A “chaotic” care home has been placed into special measures after staff were found to have used “excessive restraint” against residents.

The Hall is a residential facility in Ashford Road, Hamstreet, which provides care for up to 10 people with learning disabilities and autism.

However, it has now been rated as inadequate following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) - the public body responsible for regulating and inspecting health and social care providers in England.

It comes after inspectors found major safety issues with the facility which is run by Nexus Programme Limited.

CQC's Natalie Reed says the behaviour of some staff members was "unlawful" and "unsafe" following the visit on May 21.

The body's director of operations in the south said: “When we inspected The Hall care home we found a chaotic environment with frequent incidents occurring and people being placed at risk of harm.

“People living at the home witnessed resident on resident, and staff on resident, abuse regularly.

“We found people were subject to restraint which was unsafe, unlawful and sometimes excessive.

"When people were distressed, staff used restraint before other techniques to de-escalate the situation and didn’t always record observations and injuries afterwards.

"During one incident someone was trying to leave their bedroom and staff were holding their door closed, preventing them from leaving the room.

"In addition, staff who had committed abuse were allowed to continue working at the home despite the obvious emotional distress this would cause the person who had been abused."

Staff members were also found to have failed to complete incident reports by not recording when they had happened.

Bosses were then not monitoring records or taking action to prevent them from happening again.

Inspectors say they witnessed three situations where such incidents had not been documented, with relatives adding staff were not "open and honest" with them when required.

This was alongside medications being prescribed incorrectly.

Ms Reed added: "Staff told us two people weren’t compatible to live together as they didn’t get along, but we didn’t see that any action had been taken to address this concern.

"People made vulnerable by their circumstances were relying on all staff members to act as their advocates to help them live their best lives - it is unacceptable the people they relied on were treating them this way.

“Staff didn’t always manage medicines safely.

"One relative told our inspectors that their loved one had overdosed on one of their prescribed medicines, but we saw no evidence the incident had been reported, investigated, or shared with CQC."

Inspectors also found not enough staff were at the site to keep people safe, with such members not being recruited with thorough checks on their work history.

They were also said to lack the right skills and experience to keep people safe.

Meanwhile, colleagues told inspectors they regularly worked 14-hour shifts without a formal break - barring those who smoked.

The environment of the home was therefore deemed unsuitable for those with autism or a learning disability, with inspectors noting they saw one resident leave the home in the direction of a busy road whereby staff then had to intervene and later install a gate.

One resident, whose distress could be triggered by loud noises, was then based next to busy communal areas where incidents often occurred - something leaders confirmed they had not assessed.

CCTV throughout the home had also been fitted, despite no evidence of residents having the capacity to consent to it being installed, with the home later failing to review whether it needed to remain permanently.

Further safety checks such as fire drills and evacuation plans were also overdue.

“People who called The Hall home deserved much better…”

CQC has since confirmed it has taken immediate action by preventing The Hall from admitting new residents.

"People who called The Hall home deserved much better," Ms Reed continued.

“We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.

"We expect to see rapid and widespread improvements and will continue to monitor people living at The Hall closely to keep them safe while this happens.

"We will return to check on their progress, and won’t hesitate to take further action if people are not receiving the care they have a right to expect.”

As well as the overall rating of The Hall declining from good to inadequate, The Hall was also awarded this rating for its safe and well-led categories.

The areas of caring and responsive also declined from good to requires improvement, with effective behaviour being re-rated to requires improvement.

In total, the inspection identified 10 breaches of regulations and subsequent enforcement being taken by CQC.

These are to be reported on further once legal processes are complete.

A spokesperson for Nexus Programme said: "We are working closely with CQC to resolve the issues raised.

“Any further comment at this time would be inappropriate.”