Northamptonshire care home rated inadequate as CQC finds safety risks

Bell Lodge care home in Daventry has been placed in special measures by health inspectors

A care home for people with dementia and disabilities has been rated inadequate by health inspectors who found risks to residents' safety.

Bell Lodge in Daventry in Northamptonshire was put into special measures after a visit from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in January.

There were also issues with staffing, management, medicines, and infection control at the 15-resident home.

Bell Lodge said it was "determined to meet the actions" requested by the CQC.

The CQC last inspected Bell Lodge in 2019, when it found the care home required improvement, and made another visit after concerns were raised "in relation to staffing levels, safe care of people and management oversight".

It found a lack of effective systems to ensure people were safe, and poor cleaning practices, "including the unsafe disposal of used personal protective equipment (PPE)".

Bell Lodge suffered from staff shortages and skilled workers, inspectors said

Medicine management required improvement, and in some instances inspectors "could not be assured people received their prescribed medicines", the CQC report said.

A shortage of staff and a reliance on agency workers meant patients did not always receive "person-centred care".

The report said Bell Lodge needed to ensure more skilled staff were on each shift.

The care provider had also not completed an action plan after its previous inspection in 2020 "to show what they would do, and by when, to improve", said inspectors.

'Very difficult circumstances'

Management was said to be inadequate and the home had "disorganised" records and care plans for patients.

The regulator will meet the care home provider to discuss how it will make the required improvements, which it must do within the next six months.

In a statement, Bell Lodge said staff were "shocked and saddened" to read the CQC's report, which represented "a snapshot" of the home during a coronavirus outbreak in January.

It said it had recorded no cases for most of 2020 but the virus had been detected in the home on Christmas Day, leading to "very difficult circumstances".

"We are now determined to meet the actions that the CQC has asked us to take," the statement added.

"We have produced a plan of how we will work on all issues raised and have submitted this to the CQC."