Coventry dementia care home put in special measures

Cordelia Court in Coventry was caring for 30 people at the time of the inspection

A care home which provides support for people with dementia has been put into special measures by inspectors.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found residents at Cordelia Court, Coventry, were not always kept safe from a risk of abuse.

Other issues at the home included residents sharing incontinence underwear, cracked windows and open fire doors, inspectors said.

The firm running Cordelia Court was asked for a response to the report.

The provider was previously rated overall as "requires improvement" by the CQC but this status was downgraded to "inadequate".

The health watchdog visited the care home in October to follow up on actions it told the company to take at a previous inspection in February.

In a report published on Friday, the CQC said the service's ratings for being safe and well-led had also dropped to "inadequate."

The home, run by Corvan Limited, provides accommodation and care to adults who may have dementia or sensory impairment.

It was caring for 30 people at the time of the inspection.

'Level of care is unacceptable'

It was "disappointing" to find the firm had not taken "sufficient action" to address previous issues, Amanda Lyndon, from the CQC, said.

"We found people were sharing unlabelled incontinence underwear which was unhygienic and could put people at risk of infection," she said.

"This must be addressed as a priority."

Inspectors also found an investigation was not carried out into how a person suffered an injury which led to hospital treatment - or how they could be protected from future incidents.

Safety concerns were also highlighted in the report including fire doors which could not close, cracked windows and areas which were not clean with "dirty or damaged" equipment and furniture.

Risks around people's care were not "effectively managed" with records relating to incidents or accidents not always "effectively maintained".

There were also some medicine inconsistencies which were not acted on to show they were being managed safely, the report added.

"This level of care is unacceptable," Ms Lyndon added.

But the CQC praised the "caring approach" of staff when supporting people who used the service.

Being in special measures meant the home would be kept under close review to keep people safe and monitored to make sure sufficient improvements were made, the watchdog said.