Henwick Grange Care Home on Hallow Road has been rated as ‘requires improvement’ in all but one area after a visit from Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors.
The home caters for people over 65, who require personal care, including those with dementia.
In their report, inspectors highlighted concerns around the safety of the care home, pointing out exposed piping, trip hazards from uneven drain covers and open access to storage rooms with harmful chemicals.
The leadership team were said to be “receptive” to these concerns, devising a refurbishment plan.
Inspectors said they also found faeces on bathroom equipment and unclean surfaces, prompting concerns about the risk of infection.
Their report said: “Not all areas of the home were maintained in a way which safely supported effective infection prevention and control practices.
“For example, we saw faeces on equipment in bathrooms, unclean walls, doors, floors, tables and equipment.”
On the second day of the inspection, seven staff were seen carrying out a deep clean of the building.
There were further concerns about the administering of medication, with some medicines not given as prescribed.
The report said: “This meant people were at risk of medicines not being effective or people being over and under medicated.”
It was noted that staff did not always respect the consent rights of patients when delivering treatment, while there were also some positive interactions.
Inspectors said relatives and residents had “mixed views” on the level of kindness, empathy and compassion shown by staff.
“Staff did not always respect people’s privacy and did not routinely knock on people’s doors before entering,” the report said.
“We observed some staff did not speak to people before carrying out care tasks.
“However, we did also observe some positive interactions, where staff were kind, patient and clearly knew people’s wishes and spent time reminiscing over their lives, histories and families.”
Residents gave mixed views on the speed at which carers attended when they ring their bells, with one saying: “Very occasionally, it can be 40 minutes”.
The care home was rated ‘good’, regarding how responsive it is, an improvement from its previous ‘requires improvement’ rating.
Inspectors said: “This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.”
Bondcare Care Homes, which runs the home, did not respond to our request for comment.