Care home with urine smell and mould downgraded

The home is located on the main road through Duston

A care home where inspectors found black mould and stained armchairs has been downgraded to "requires improvement".

The inspection earlier this year at Oak Lodge in Duston, Northampton, also found that low staffing at night put residents at risk of falling, and people with dementia had access to medicines and cleaning materials.

Relatives of a resident reported that carpets smelt of urine.

The care provider said it would not "repeat any of those same mistakes going forward".

Oak Lodge Care Home occupies a prominent position on the main road through the village of Duston.

It can accommodate 36 people and describes itself as "set in a beautiful village environment with lovely garden areas".

The home was rated as Good after its last inspection, but the Care Quality Commission (CQC) responded to concerns raised earlier this year by ordering that no-one was admitted to the home without their permission.

Inspectors carried out two site visits in April and May and found people with complex needs were left alone in the communal lounge or their rooms for long periods of time.

'They don't care'

One resident told the inspectors: “You can sit for hours when you want to go to the toilet, they [staff] don’t care.

"There is a bell but they turn it off so I have to shout if I need something.”

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the CQC also noted medicine, cleaning products and objects such as scissors and cable ties were accessible to people living with dementia.

Their report said the home was “visibly unclean” with “black mould in bathrooms, threadbare and stained carpets [and] damaged and stained armchairs".

The Inspectors found the home was "visibly unclean"

A relative also told inspectors they had asked the home to replace a carpet with laminate flooring due to the “strong smell of urine”.

The CQC found people were at increased risk of falls during the night due to the low level of staff on shift.

The home was rated as Requires Improvement in three of the five inspection categories, and Good in the remaining two.

A spokesperson for the provider, Restgate Limited, said: “Our inspection was done back in April and since then we have been providing monthly reports to the CQC in terms of the progress we have made.

“What they identified on the day we have responded to and made sure we do not repeat any of those same mistakes going forward.”