Medication concerns at 'unsafe' Barwell care home - CQC

The home was caring for 29 people with physical disabilities or dementia at the time of the inspection

A care home in Leicestershire has been judged to be unsafe for a second time.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) raised the overall rating for Saffron House, in Barwell, near Hinckley, but found continued failings around safety.

A report, released on Friday, said they found medication unattended, as well as issues with how staff cared for residents.

The home's owners said improvements would be made "as soon as possible".

The home was placed in special measures in July after residents were left sleeping on soiled mattresses and areas were found to be visibly dirty.

The CQC re-inspected the home in November and said improvements to cleanliness had been made between their visits, leading them to raise its overall rating from "inadequate" to "requires improvement".

However, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said it remained rated "inadequate" for safety.

'Risk of choking'

The CQC report said that, during the latest visit, inspectors watched a member of staff leave the medicine trolley unobserved for nearly a minute, creating a risk that people at the home might be able to get their hands on drugs that were not theirs.

A "significant number of unidentified tablets" had also been left in a container, which should have been used for the safe disposal of sharp objects, the CQC added.

The watchdog said there were gaps in medicine records but confirmed a manager had taken steps to improve medication management after the inspection.

The CQC also said the home, which cares for adults with physical disabilities and dementia, did not have a strategy to deal with a resident who was seen to be "walking in and out of people's rooms without any support or intervention".

Staff said "the person was agitated and better left alone," the CQC said.

Inspectors were also concerned a resident was left in distress and at risk of choking when he was being fed by staff and had to use their fingers to remove excess food from their mouth.

A spokesman for Minster Care Group, which owns the home, said: "We are disappointed that we have not yet achieved all of the improvements required by the CQC following its previous inspection.

"Significant progress has been made since then - which the CQC has acknowledged - but we have provided additional head office support for the team at the home and put in place an accelerated action plan to ensure all remaining quality improvements are implemented as quickly as possible.

"Ongoing staff training is being undertaken to ensure our processes and procedures are followed at all times and further refurbishment work on the building is under way."