Update on Home 108

Tales of The Un-Inspected
By Eileen Chubb©
Update on home 108

I recently made a further visit to home 108 and noted the following,

We were asked to wait in the hallway and noted that someone leaving had left the main door propped open with a box whilst they loaded various boxes into a car, the second internal door was also left open and this being a home that cares for residents with dementia anyone could have left the building during this time and staff would have been totally unaware of their absence. Please see home 108 for the long list of concerns raised about this home in the past and said to be not upheld by the local authority and CQC when investigated however evidence to uphold them all was found to be the case on this visit.

We were shown around by a male member of staff who had a thick accent and was hard to understand. 
We were shown into the dining room which was empty and given that lunch was said to have taken place at 12.30 and it being one O’clock I would have expected to see people still eating or at the very least evidence of used plates, however the tables were bare, except for clean tablecloths and the floor was completely devoid of any particle of food.

There was one young carer sitting in the downstairs lounge with residents and no other staff at all, the TV was on showing footage of a Beatles concert without any sound. The CD player was blaring so loudly it was impossible to speak, the music was the Bay City Rollers and one female resident looked distressed at this and tried to leave the room but the male staff member with me took her roughly back into the lounge barking the words “come on” He gripped her upper arm and forced her back to sit in a chair. Another female resident was trying to climb onto a piece of discarded equipment left in the corner of the room and the carer looked at this and turned back to watching the TV.

We were shown around six rooms on the ground floor all containing peoples belongings and therefore occupied by residents sat in the lounge. All of these rooms had no access to radiator controls, all smelt so strongly of urine and faeces’ that there was clearly total neglect of residents night time continence care. Some of these rooms had light switches on a timer, push on and automatic switch off after several minutes which was a real hazard given that frail people would be halfway across a room that suddenly plunged into darkness and that none of the rooms had en-suite facilities.

All of the residents seen on the ground floor were dirty looking and unkempt, the men were unshaven and wore creased stained clothing as did the female residents who all with one exception had dirty unkempt hair and many had fingernails that were over two inches long and caked in dirt and what looked like faeces.

As we made our way to the lift a male resident asked for help and the male carer with me shouted very abruptly “ In a minute Lesley” I commented that this resident seemed younger and the carer said younger residents were accepted by the home. The carer took us to the first floor where there was also only one member of staff seen who was writing up care records some way from where all the residents were seated in a lounge area. All of these residents also looked dirty and unkempt with dirty hair and nails. Two long lines of chairs were arranged with a small space in the middle, residents sat in silence starring at each other, apart from a male resident who was sat alone in a small corner area.

We were shown around  six rooms upstairs all smelt very strongly of urine and faeces a level of smell that would take considerable time to accumulate, as with those downstairs none had access to turn up the heating and some had timers on the light switches also. Two had prescription creams left by the sink and one had pest control poison where a resident could easily reach it. One of the rooms had a slope by the doorway and caused me to trip so would be a real hazard to a frail resident with poor mobility and sight. No other staff were seen except for a cleaner.

The state of the residents and the ingrained level of smell in this home could not be mistaken for anything other than systematic neglect. Apart from the blaring pop music no other activities was on offer and not a single book, newspaper or magazine was in evidence in the bedrooms seen or any of the public areas. We left shortly afterwards.

Eileen Chubb