Suspected abuse 'not reported' at Birchwood care home in Newbury

Birchwood care home in Newbury has been placed into special measures

A care home failed to report suspected abuse and residents were "not always kept safe", inspectors have said.

West Berkshire Council took control of Newbury-based Birchwood in June after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the 60-bed home required improvement.

The watchdog's latest report said the service was "inadequate" and has been placed into special measures.

The council said it was "disappointed" with the findings and acknowledged there was "work to be done".

CQC inspectors said the local authority had brought "a number of alerts" to their attention about previously unreported "suspected abuse".

'Not responsive'

They added there were no measures in place to investigate reported incidents at the home during the inspection, between 29 September and 1 October.

"It was established that we had also not been notified of serious injury concerns," the report said.

"This means that CQC was not provided with information required by law."

The report added the service was "not responsive" and "not well led".

A West Berkshire Council spokesperson said it had "promptly identified" concerns when it took control of the home and was "implementing a clear action plan"

The inspectors reported they had to intervene after finding an unlocked medicine trolley unattended.

A resident's bathroom was cleaned by a relative after it was "left dirty for unknown periods of time", the report added.

Inspectors also criticised the "unapproachable" management, put in place when the council took control of the home, which did not have "effective systems in place" to improve the service.

A West Berkshire Council spokesperson said it had "promptly identified" concerns when it took control of the home and was "implementing a clear action plan".

"However, this will take longer than the four-month period on which the CQC have judged," the spokesperson said.

"We are obviously disappointed with the judgement but acknowledge that there is work to be done to bring Birchwood up to our own high standards."