Luton care home in special measures after damning report from care watchdog

A Luton care home has been put into special measures after a damning report from the care watchdog.

The Care Quality Commission is meeting with the owners of Victoriana Care Home and Luton Council to resolve what it says are major issues.

Heritage Care Homes Limited, which runs the home, says Covid and the cost of living crisis are to blame for issues including staffing and building maintenance.

The report states: “We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, safeguarding people from abuse, person-centred care, the reporting of notifiable incidents and good governance at this inspection.

“There was ineffective leadership at the service and governance systems were not identifying areas where improvements were needed. Audits were either not in place or not effective at identifying where actions needed to be taken. A lack of manager presence at the service had allowed a negative culture to develop which did not promote positive outcomes for people.”

The Lansdowne Road care home provides support to people who may be living with a physical disability, mental health needs or dementia.

Inspectors found:

>Risks to people were not thoroughly assessed and risk assessments lacked detailed guidance for staff to follow.

>Numerous infection control issues at the service and the home needed some upkeep and a deep clean.

>People did not receive personalised care and staff were not trained or knowledgeable about people's specific health conditions.

>There was little effort made to engage with people in a meaningful way, people were not always treated with kindness and compassion and their privacy and dignity was not always respected.

>Staff did not always have the right training or knowledge to support people effectively.

>Changes needed to be made to the environment to help support people living with dementia to orientate.

The home was previously inspected in 2020 and found to require improvement.

Inspectors said: “The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found the provider remained in breach of regulations. If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe and there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will act in line with our enforcement procedures.”

A spokesman for the care home said: “We were impacted greatly in terms of staffing and recruitment following Covid. We were unable to recruit a manager and senior staff and this directly influenced our downgrade in rating. Unfortunately, building upgrades and maintenance that had been scheduled for 2020/2021 were put back owing to a widespread labour shortage and inability to procure contractors to work in the care home post Covid, as we still had active cases.

"The subsequent increase in the cost of living has also affected every aspect of our service. We accept the shortfalls and issues highlighted by the CQC and we assure you that the residents are our priority and are cared for with dignity and respect. We have spoken with the residents and family members to provide reassurance and open a dialogue on their views of the service. We are also working with the Local Authority on an improvement plan and hope to make great strides in the coming months.”