Eden Lodge Residential Care Home was downgraded to inadequate.
Eden Lodge Residential Care Home has been downgraded to inadequate.(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)
A care home in Bestwood Village has been downgraded from good to inadequate and placed into special measures by the health watchdog.
Eden Lodge Residential Care Home, in Park Road, was placed into special measures to keep people safe following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission in July.
The investigation discovered many failings including the home being unclean, with dirty floors, mattresses and equipment found in some areas.
Inspectors also found that staff did not always manage medicines safely, with some medication having unclear labelling and missing guidance for when to administer the drug.
People living at the home had mixed experiences of care.
Inspectors saw some instances of staff showing kindness during activities and residents enjoying themselves.
But they also saw staff telling residents to sit down repeatedly when they were distressed, instead of attempting to comfort them.
Residents told inspectors that they felt staff were too busy to spend time with them and the CQC also found that people were being left without support for long periods of time – both in communal areas and in their own rooms.
Inspectors report having serious concerns about how safeguarding concerns were managed within the home.
Staff did not always record or report incidents to the local authority and missed opportunities to learn from where things had previously gone wrong.
The home also had not always shared information with the relevant healthcare professionals – putting their residents at risk of harm.
The care home, which is run by Sai Om Limited, cares for up to 60 people including those living with dementia and mental health conditions.
At the time of inspection, there were 25 people living at the facility which has one floor and a garden.
The CQC had received information of risk about the service which prompted them to carry out the inspection.
During the inspection the CQC inspectors found four breaches of regulation related to safe care and treatment, person-centre care, safeguarding and overall management of the service.
Being placed into special measures means the home will be closely monitored by the CQC to ensure that people are safe while improvements are made.
Special measures also provide a structured timeframe so services have a clear idea of when improvements need to be made and what action CQC will take if this does not happen.
Leaders at the home did not always recruit staff safely, sometimes failing to complete appropriate checks before new staff members started work.
The inspectors also found that leaders didn’t identify or act on failings in the home, including problems with the environment, medicines, care plans and staffing – meaning known risks went unresolved for long periods, leaving people at risk of harm.
The CQC downgraded the ratings for how safe and effective the home is from good to inadequate.
It has downgraded how well-led the home is from requires improvement to inadequate, and how caring and responsive it is from good to requires improvement.
Hazel Roberts, CQC deputy director of adult social care in the central region, said: “During our visit to Eden Lodge Residential Care Home, we found a service where leaders didn’t have proper control over the quality and safety of care.
“Leaders’ audits and checks hadn’t picked up problems with the environment, medicines, care plans and staffing, and known risks went unresolved for long periods. There was no registered manager in post at the time and, while a new manager had recently been appointed, they hadn’t yet had the chance to make changes.
“The home had been going through a period of change. Staff told us they supported each other and the leadership team was receptive to our feedback, taking some immediate steps to improve safety during our visit. However, these improvements clearly need more time to embed to ensure people receive the standard of care they deserve.
“We have told leaders where urgent improvements are needed, and we will keep the service under close review to ensure people are kept safe while this happens.”
Eden Lodge Residential Care Home was approached for comment but declined to do so.