Care home placed in special measures
Bourne End: Chilterns Manor told to make ‘rapid improvements'
A Bourne End care home has been rated Inadequate and placed in special measures after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found residents living there were unsafe.
Inspectors from the health and social care watchdog made an unannounced visit to Chilterns Manor, Northern Heights, on August 19.
During the inspection, the CQC found people did not receive safe care, staff had not been trained on the correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and inadequate fire safety measures were in place.
A report, published on October 14, said the CQC discovered instances where people living at Chilterns Manor had suffered injuries through physical altercations with other care home residents.
But there was no evidence these had been referred to the local authority.
The report added that staff at the care home, which also supports people with dementia, were unaware of the need for incidents of unexplained bruising to be investigated.
Inspectors found some care workers lacked communication skills.
The only time one staff member spoke to a care home resident was to say ‘sit’ when they got to the stairlift and ‘wait, wait’ when they reached the bottom, the report added.
The CQC also found records which revealed antipsychotic medicine had gone missing from the home in July and the incident was not reported to local authorities or police.
Some staff also failed to keep their nose and mouth covered with a face mask while carrying out their duties.
Inspectors observed a fire escape door and evacuation route were obstructed at the home and a bedroom door was propped open with a portable heater.
Rebecca Bauers, CQC head of inspection, said: “We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people’s safety, dignity, and independence.
“When we inspected Chilterns Manor, we were very concerned that the people who lived there who called it home weren’t safe.”
She added: “We found a lack of oversight and good leadership at this service which has led poor quality care for people in respect of care and support which is unacceptable.
“We have told the provider that it must make significant, rapid and widespread improvements and we will continue to monitor them closely to ensure that these are made.”
A re-inspection will be carried out at the care home within the next six months.
Chilterns Manor did not respond to a request for comment from the Advertiser.