Out of date food and residents restrained in seats: Luton care home in special measures after damning report
A care home in Luton has been put into special measures after inspectors found a catalogue of issues – including residents being physically restrained in their chairs.
Castletroy Residential Home, in Cromer Way, was handed the lowest possible grade: inadequate, with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) saying it was taking action to protect residents.
The home for elderly people and those living with dementia was inspected by the CQC in February, while 58 people were living at the service.
The report, published today, revealed residents had been restrained in chairs with lap belts, designed to prevent falls when people were wheeled in chairs. Inspectors found people were confined to their chairs when they weren’t being moved, leading Hazel Roberts, CQC deputy director of adult social care in the East of England, to say: “We had serious concerns about the use of physical restraint.”
During the visit, inspectors found numerous other problems, including out-of-date food and poor hygiene standards.
A spokesperson for the home said it “acknowledges the findings of the Care Quality Commission’s recent inspection report” and has already put a plan in place to address the issues.
The report details issues with the state of the home, which was described as “not clean or safely maintained”.
The inspectors said: “For example, many of the taps in service users’ ensuite bathrooms had limescale on them and some shower heads were visibly dirty and covered in limescale.
“There was no hygienic storage for people’s toothbrushes, toiletries were stored behind people’s toilets, and we observed urine bottles on two people’s bedroom tables next to containers of drink.”
Out-of-date and unlabeled food was found in the fridge, meaning “people were at risk of eating food that was unsafe.”
Hazel Roberts said: “People weren’t kept safe because the service hadn’t put the right systems in place, leading to significant and widespread shortfalls.”
She added: “People were at risk of harm because care plans and risk assessments were inaccurate and inconsistent. For example, one person’s nutrition care plan identified they were at high risk of choking and required a modified diet, yet the same plan listed foods incompatible with that diet, with no guidance on how staff should manage this safely.
“The home’s environment posed risks to people's safety. Fire evacuation procedures weren’t fit for purpose. Senior staff were unable to describe safe evacuation practice and no records of a full evacuation drill ever having taken place. Basic infection prevention and control standards also weren't being met, with dirty bathrooms, limescale on taps and shower heads, and food past its use-by date found in the kitchen.
“Staff didn’t manage medicines safely. We observed an unidentified tablet left on a person's bedside table, and staff had administered controlled medicines without recording this. These failures put people at serious risk.
“We’ve shared our findings with the management of the home and will be monitoring it very closely to ensure changes are made and people are kept safe while this happens.”
Inspectors also heard one staff member calling residents who could move around ‘walkers’ and mimicking someone who was distressed.
But despite this, people living at the service told the CQC they felt safe and comfortable with the staff who supported them.
Inspectors explained: “One person said, ‘I fall asleep at night, and I don’t have anything to worry about.’ Another person’s relative told us, ‘I have no concerns about [person’s] safety or wellbeing.’”
A lack of staff training was also found to be an issue, with “only 12 out of 47 staff” having received falls prevention training, “despite many people being at high risk of falls”.
Staff who were supporting people with dementia, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy had not completed training for those conditions.
The care home spokesperson said: “We take these concerns extremely seriously… our priority remains the safety, wellbeing and dignity of the people who live at Castletroy, and we are working closely with the Local Authority and CQC to ensure rapid and sustained improvements.”