Diss care home with 'high number of falls' put in special measures

Culrose Residential Home cared for 26 older people at the time of the CQC visit

A care home that inspectors said experienced a "high number of falls" has been placed in special measures.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated Culrose Residential Home near Diss, in Norfolk, as inadequate.

Inspectors said they witnessed staff taking 16 minutes to respond to a resident's alert, by which time they were on the floor with a head wound.

The home's owner said it disagreed with several points from the regulator and said the rating was "unfairly harsh".

Equipment concerns

Inspectors said at the time of the visit in July that the home, in Dickleburgh, cared for 26 older people.

The CQC said it spoke with five relatives, two people who used the service, 11 staff and that 13 care records were reviewed.

The inspection was prompted partly because a "person in the service" was seriously injured relating to "potential equipment safety concerns", the CQC said.

In a report published earlier, the regulator said:

• A person with dementia was deprived of their liberty without any mental capacity assessment. The resident was also given medicine with sedative effects most days "despite not showing any danger to themselves or others"

• The service failed to ensure all equipment for moving and handling was serviced and staff had not noticed part of a hoist was broken

• There were soiled chairs, unclean floors and damaged surfaces

• Staff did not always identify or report signs of potential abuse, such as unexplained bruising

• Many staff lacked training in first aid, dementia awareness, moving and handling, and safeguarding

• There were not always enough staff to respond quickly to call bells and alerts

Gill Hodgson-Reilly, CQC deputy director of operations in the East of England, said: "We were disappointed to find leaders had failed to identify and respond effectively to many issues affecting people's safety."

However, Ms Hodgson-Reilly said "people told us they felt confident in the skills of staff".

Employees said they felt supported by leaders and the staff managed people's medicines safely, the report added.

'Unfairly harsh'

A spokesperson for Care East Limited, which runs the care home, pointed out the company was under new ownership, having been taken over by Nobilis Care Group in February.

"We are currently working closely with the CQC to ensure all areas are going to be improved to the best standard. At the current time most things have already been implemented," said the spokesperson.

"However, we disagree with a number of points raised by the inspector and feel their overall inadequate rating is unfairly harsh and does not accurately reflect the level of care we provide to our residents and families."

The CQC usually revisits care providers within six months of placing them in special measures, and it can stop them from operating if it does not record improvements.