Elderly residents of a Broughton Gifford care home are not protected from the risk of abuse, according to a damning report by government inspectors.

The Old Parsonage was subject to an unannounced inspection by the Care Quality Commission on June 4, which has criticised its hygiene standards, record-keeping and staffing levels.

The home provides accommodation and care to 22 older people with dementia, and other mental health issues.

The inspector spoke to 20 residents, four relatives and 14 members of staff during their visit, which took place on May 23 and June 2, 3 and 4.

The five categories considered by the inspector were all deemed to ‘require improvement’, a decline from the home’s previous inspection in April last year.

They are:

  • Treating people with respect and involving them in their care
  • Providing care, treatment and support that meets people’s needs
  • Caring for people safely and protecting them from harm
  • Staffing
  • Quality and suitability of management

The report, which is available in full online, highlights many worrying findings from the inspection.

It states: “People who use the service were not protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had not taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.

“We found the provider had not taken action to ensure there were sufficient numbers of staff on duty to meet the high dependency needs of people.

“The home also did not have sufficient registered nurses in post who had the skills or experience to meet the needs of people with complex dementia needs.”

The report also details dirty chamber pots, insufficient trained staff on duty, and a lack of infection control.

It highlights a failing in basic hygiene standards, with soiled chamber pots left stained and unclean.

It says: “On the evening of June 2 we observed an unpleasant odour coming from the sluice room.

“We found there was a commode insert placed in there which had a large amount of liquid, odorous faeces in it. We asked staff about the commode insert. All of them said they did not know why it had been left in the sluice room in that condition, and not disposed of.”

The full report can be read at http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/1-135846192_The_Old_Parsonage_INS1-1399678861_Scheduled_17-07-2014.pdf