A Ruddington care home where inspectors found dirty conditions including a resident wrapped in a soiled bed quilt has been placed in special measures.
Balmore Country House in Loughborough Road, Ruddington, was rated ‘inadequate’ after checks from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Inspectors found unclean areas and discovered some residents’ dignity was not always respected.
The home can provide care for up to 76 people but 44 people were living there at the time of inspection.
The service provides support to older people, some of whom may be living with dementia.
The home, which is run by Ruddington Homes Limited, was inspected in November and a report published this month raised concerns over medicines, cleanliness and some staff members’ “approach and attitude to providing safe and compassionate care”.
At its last inspection in 2020, the home was rated ‘good’.
Inspectors also said some staff were “reluctant to accept our findings”.
In a statement, the management team of the home said they were “very disappointed” to receive the inadequate report.
The home was rated ‘inadequate’ in three areas – safe, caring and well-led. The other criteria, effective and responsive, were rated ‘requires improvement’.
The report found people’s medicines were not managed safely which “placed people at significant risk of harm”.
Multiple prescribed medicines were found by inspectors in a box on the floor of a storage cupboard which was not temperature controlled.
Inspectors also found areas of the home were not clean, including dust and dirt in bathrooms and sinks, which put people at risk of the spread of infection.
The report stated: “We observed a person in their bedroom wrapped in a quilt with no cover on. They had faeces on them and faeces on their quilt and on the walls.
“If we had not seen this person and raised this concern the person could have been in this state for a longer period of time.
“When we returned to their bedroom a cover had been placed on the quilt and pillowcase; however, this was stained with historic blood marks.
“This person did not receive dignified and respectful care and support.”
Inspectors observed someone’s bedroom being cleaned, but afterwards brown stains remained on the wall and the bed linen was marked with brown stains and dried blood.
The report added: “Pressure relieving equipment was found to be dirty.
“We found two pressure relieving cushions which had embedded dirt present These were heavily stained with urine and were malodorous.”
Staff said they would be disposed of but the following day they were seen again by inspectors.
A wheelchair seen in someone’s bedroom was “very dirty with brown stains on the seat”. Other areas were “in a state of disrepair”.
Inspectors also witnessed one person who wished to walk with a walking aid, but a member of staff “attempted to verbally force this person into a
wheelchair”.
The report stated: “The person was very resistant to this and made their wishes clear to the staff member. The staff member continued to insist the person used a wheelchair until the assistant manager intervened and the person was then ‘allowed’ to use their walking aid.”
Inspectors said some people at the home felt lonely with limited interactions with staff, and people’s dignity was “not always respected”.
“Staff did not respond quickly enough to people who required their support to lead a dignified life”, the report said.
However, the report added: “We did observe some positive interactions between staff and people. Some staff were kind and caring with their approach and people liked this. Accidents and incidents were investigated and reported appropriately.”
In a statement, the management team at the home said a number of issues were rectified immediately.
They said: “Clearly normal practices have not been followed in certain areas and we want to take this opportunity to apologise to residents and their families if we have let them down in any way.
“This has not been our intention at any time.
“We are absolutely determined to implement all the changes recommended to address the concerns raised and move the home away from this current rating and return it to its usual good standard.
“Balmore Country House has been proud to care for its residents for many years and will make every effort to do so in the future at the level which is expected of it, and the local community deserves.
“Once again, we apologise that on this occasion, we have come up short on that aim. We are actively engaged in making sure that this does not happen in the future.”
