A care home has been plunged into special measures after residents waited 19 hours for help while others lifted empty forks to their mouths.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has stripped Canterbury’s Chaucer House of its ‘good’ rating and branded it ‘inadequate’ after a dozen incidents also went unrecorded.
Chaucer House care home has been downgraded from good to inadequate by the CQC
They included physical assaults, people entering others’ bedrooms without consent and inappropriate touching.
The independent watchdog stepped in to investigate the St Martin’s Hill care home in May after receiving concerns that residents were at risk.
It has since been placed into special measures after six breaches of regulations were identified, with a CQC chief pointing the finger at “failures in leadership” resulting in “a poor culture”.
The breaches relate to safe care and treatment, safeguarding people from abuse and improper treatment, safe staffing, person-centred care, treating people with dignity and respect, and the overall management of the service.
The healthcare watchdog has downgraded the ratings for safe, caring, effective, responsive and well-led from good to inadequate.
Chaucer House care home has been rated as ‘inadequate’
Inspectors found the service, which cares for 60 residents, was not managing medicines effectively, with some Parkinson’s sufferers not receiving their medication on time and facing an increased risk of their symptoms worsening.
The service was not ensuring people with diabetes were supported to make healthier food choices, even though their care plans stated they required this support. Daily notes showed people regularly eating snacks and puddings, with no evidence that staff were encouraging healthier options.
Leaders also did not ensure people’s preferences were respected, with one person asking if their personal care could be carried out earlier in the day, before their family arrived. This request was not supported, which made them anxious.
Staff were not always attentive during mealtimes and this left people in undignified situations.
Two people were even found lifting empty forks to their mouths with staff talking over them rather than being engaging.
Chaucer House is based along St Martin’s Hill in Canterbury
The report also noted how leaders did not ensure care plans were accurate or personalised, with some featuring the wrong names and making it difficult for staff to deliver person-centred care.
Leaders were therefore said to be responsible for a poor learning culture and failed to act on incidents and feedback to improve the service.
A complaint in 2025 had highlighted staff were rough during personal care yet people were still reporting this as an issue during this inspection.
CQC deputy director of adult social care in Kent, Catriona Eglinton, said: “When we inspected Chaucer House, we found failures in leadership had resulted in a poor culture where people were experiencing widespread and significant shortfalls in their care.
“This was particularly apparent in relation to the inadequate management of risks.
The CQC has placed the care home into special measures. Picture: Google
“Inspectors found leaders weren’t investigating safety incidents and staff didn’t feel safe raising concerns.
“We identified 12 incidents which hadn’t been recorded, including physical assaults, people accessing other people’s bedrooms without consent, and inappropriate touching.
“This is unacceptable and by failing to address these risks, leaders had left people at risk of repeated harm or abuse.
“Inspectors were also concerned to find the service wasn’t always supporting people effectively with their health needs.
“Staff weren’t following guidance for people with pressure sores and records showed that someone who should have been repositioned every two hours, instead waited 19 hours for that support. This put them at risk of their condition deteriorating.
Chaucer House care home has been placed in special measures following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission. Picture: iStock
“While some people told us they were happy with their care, it was clear people weren’t always treated with compassion or dignity.
“Some relatives told us their loved ones had received care that was abrupt and heavy-handed.
“One person told us a staff member watched TV while supporting them with personal care.
“Ultimately, these failures were the result of a closed culture, where staff felt blamed when they raised concerns and didn’t receive the training they needed to keep people safe or meet their needs.
“For example, nearly half of staff hadn’t received training in positive behaviour support so when people became distressed, staff weren’t always able to de-escalate the situation to prevent further distress for that person or keep other people safe.
“We have told leaders where they must make rapid and continued improvements and we’ll continue to monitor the home closely to keep people safe during this time.”
Inspectors found some residents at Chaucer House care home had to wait 19 hours for proper care
Among the urgent conditions imposed are leaders being required to provide evidence of robust risk assessments, trained staff, appropriate supervision, and timely reporting of incidents.
CQC has also suspended Chaucer House’s ratings on its website.
The care home’s previous CQC report saw it rated as good in all areas following an inspection in January 2023.
However, before that it was also rated as inadequate following an unannounced inspection in November 2017.
Chaucer House has been contacted for comment.