A care home has had its registration suspended after health inspectors found used injection needles and sheets soiled with faeces at the Mansfield service.
A CQC spokesperson added: “We can confirm that CQC has urgently suspended the registration of The Limes Care Home in Mansfield following an inspection in March, and everyone has safely moved out to alternative accommodation.
“The findings from the [latest] inspection will be published in a report on our website in due course.”
Neither the Limes Care Home nor the registered provider AA Toorabally could be reached for comment.
Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors visited The Limes Care Home in Park Road, Mansfield Woodhouse, in February and March 2022.
After the latest visit, the CQC “urgently suspended” the home’s registration and all residents have been moved out of the home.
Inspectors had already visited the home in January but said “significant concerns” had been raised meaning they returned sooner than anticipated.
A previous inspection in July 2021 had first rated the home as ‘inadequate’ after it was discovered Covid-19 guidelines “were not being effectively followed” at the service.
The service, caring for 17 people aged 65 and over, some of whom are living with dementia, was also been placed in ‘special measures’ by the CQC.
On the most recent visit in February, inspectors found “people were not protected from the risk of abuse”, “government guidance was not followed or adhered to” relating to Covid and “there were not enough adequately trained staff to support people safely”.
During the unannounced visit, “used injection needles were found to be left on the top of a filing cabinet and not disposed of safely” and “bed sheets in two people’s rooms [were found] to be stained with bodily fluid and sheets soiled with faeces to be left to soak in a bucket”.
One washing machine, which broke in December 2021, had not been replaced and another did not reach a hot temperature.
The report also identifies an incident in February where a resident’s equipment, which they used to move around safely, was taken away.
The report into the home, which was run by care provider AA Toorabally, stated: “The staff failed to recognise this as a safeguarding incident, and it was not reported.
“Staff management of the incident was highly inappropriate. The staff all failed to recognise this as an incident of abuse.”
The inspectors also found that “a large number of people had been admitted into the service unsafely in a short space of time”.
Some staff members were also recruited without DBS checks, induction, supervision, shadowing or training.
The report added: “The provider had taken inadequate action to have the home effectively cleaned since our last inspection and following their COVID-19 outbreak. For example, large balls of dust were found in the home, toiletries were found in communal bathrooms which had not been moved since our last inspection and grime was visible around these items.”
