Home left resident in bed for 5 months
A CARE home has been thrown into special measures after inspectors discovered a patient had been left in his bed – without a bath or shower – for five months.
Another resident needed urgent medical attention for an eye infection that had been left untreated by staff at Carson House Care Centre in Stalybridge. And one patient’s room smelled so bad staff from the Care Quality Commission were forced to intervene during their inspection in January.
The commission’s report rated the 45-bed facility as ‘inadequate’ in four out of five areas, with the fifth ‘requiring improvement.’
The health watchdog visited after concerns were raised about the safety of the people living there.
They found one patient had been living at the home since August 2016, and that there was a plan in place to regularly hoist them out of bed for bathing and also so they could sit out of bed for two hours a day.
But after reading through files and speaking with family and staff, the CQC found they had not been hoisted for a bath or shower since their admission five months earlier – and staff were not able to say why.
A second resident had been nursed in bed since October last year, despite their care plan stating they too should be hoisted out of bed. The inspectors also said: “One person’s room had such a strong malodour, we requested they be offered the opportunity to move to another room whilst their room was deep cleaned.”
Medicines were not safely managed, harmful substances were not locked away, and five out of eight nurses did not have up-to-date medication training. There was also concern over the high number of agency nurses and carers working at Carson House, which had been without a manager since the previous month.
Despite this, inspectors said throughout their visit staff spoke kindly to residents and were encouraging when providing assistance. There were positive relationships between staff and residents.
Since the inspection, the care home has stopped new admissions. Carson House Care Centre was run by Elder Homes which is since understood to have been dissolved.
The home and several representatives have been approached for comment but no one has responded.