Bedfordshire care home did not report abuse allegation, says CQC

Swiss Cottage describes itself as "an 83-bedroom residential and nursing care home"

A care home that failed to report an allegation of abuse has again been rated "inadequate" by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Its report into Swiss Cottage Care Home in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, said: "People were not always protected from abuse and improper treatment."

Roseberry Care, which runs the home, said the report did not "accurately reflect the quality of care".

It said there had never been an abuse allegation against a staff member.

Swiss Cottage describes itself as "an 83-bedroom residential and nursing care home".

Inspectors found that many people's rooms had been without hot water for over a month and that some people could not reach their call bells.

'Disciplinary action'

Gill Hodgson-Reilly, CQC deputy director of operations in the East of England, said: "We saw multiple people in the home weren't eating enough, but staff weren't making sure they received additional nutrition or that their food was appealing."

The CQC said 30 people were living there during the unannounced inspections in August.

The home had been rated "good" in 2018 but went into special measures in 2021 after inspectors rated it "inadequate".

An allegation of abuse was made against a staff member, which led to "disciplinary action", but was not referred to the local authority, the report said.

"Following the inspection, the local authority informed us they had still not received a referral. This meant the concern could not be independently reviewed," it said.

In the end, the CQC itself made a safeguarding referral.

'Positive findings'

Ms Hodgson-Reilly said: "We were deeply disappointed to find leaders hadn't acted on safety issues we'd raised to them repeatedly in previous inspections, and were still failing to provide good, personalised care."

The report did note "some positive findings".

Inspectors observed "lots of positive laughing and joking when a staff member was encouraging a person to eat" and "another staff member checking if a person's food was warm enough".

Relatives of the residents said staffing levels had improved and that they were kept up to date.

In a statement, the company said: "The health and wellbeing of everyone who makes their home is us is our absolute priority and we were saddened to read the report by the Care Quality Commission, which we do not feel accurately reflects the quality of care provided at Swiss Cottage care home.

"We would like to apologise to our home community and thank them for the positive feedback they shared with the CQC."

However, it added: "There was never an allegation of abuse against a member of our staff. We clarified with the CQC that their inspector misunderstood the reason for a member of staff not passing their probation."

Roseberry added that it had made the "difficult decision" to transfer ownership of Swiss Cottage to Pressbeau Care Provider, a group of family-run care homes.

The CQC said it would keep Swiss Cottage under review.