Louth care home 'inadequate' and placed in special measures

Residents were at risk of avoidable harm at The Beeches, inspectors said

A Lincolnshire care home put residents at risk of injury and other harm, a healthcare watchdog has said.

The Beeches in Louth was visited by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in February after concerns about it were raised.

The CQC, which rated the care home as inadequate, said "people weren't safe and were at risk of avoidable harm".

In response, the care home said it was working hard to address the issues raised in the report.

The Beeches is a residential care home on South Street providing personal care for up to 22 people aged 65 and over. There were 19 residents at the time of the inspection, according to the CQC.

Greg Rielly, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said that inspectors found a number of safety hazards and failings at the home.

In one incident, in which a person choked on food, staff failed to make a referral to have the person's eating and drinking assessed until a month later.

"[This] left the person at continued risk of choking, which is totally unacceptable," Mr Rielly said.

Unsecured wardrobes

Inspectors also identified safety issues at the care home, with several wardrobes found not to be secured to walls.

"This created a risk of them falling on people who used furniture for support when walking," the inspector said.

There was also a risk of scalding from excessively hot water from several taps and residents were not always protected from abuse, according to the report.

"The decline in these standards isn't good enough and we've told the provider... what they must do to improve, as nobody should ever have to live in a [home] which is unsafe," he added.

However, the CQC said staff were "kind and caring" and wanted the best for the residents.

"[Residents] told us they felt safe," the report said, adding that the issue with the wardrobes had since been rectified.

Following the inspection, the service was placed in special measures, so it will be kept under close review by CQC.

In a statement, the care home said: "We are extremely disappointed with the report as we have been working hard this last year to upgrade our systems of work."

The statement said that management at the care home was working with the CQC and the local council to make improvements.

Main findings:

• Systems to keep people safe did not identify and prevent risks to residents' safety

• Residents were not always supported to take their medicines safely

• Furniture wasn't secured

• The provider had not followed best practice in relation to infection prevention and control

• Staff were not always recruited in an approved manner

• Patients lacked the support they needed to have maximum control of their lives