A Hove care home has been rated inadequate after rotting food was found in bedrooms by inspectors.
Asher Nursing Home in Wilbury Gardens, which houses people with complex mental health needs, was placed in special measures after an inspection.
The nursing home was inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on 18 October after being made aware of safeguarding concerns.
The care home, run by Parkview Care Homes, was found to have blank monthly cleaning checklists, beds without sheets on, people smoking in their rooms and rotting food items and fruit flies in rooms.
The CQC report also says that reports for new residents had not been filled in, fire safety issues needed to be addressed, and residents felt “bored” at the home.
The nursing home was rated inadequate in safety and leadership, and rated as “requires improvement” in effectiveness, care and responsiveness.
Policies intended to keep residents safe at the nursing home were not robust according to inspectors.
The report said: “Staff told us they did not feel confident that matters they reported would be robustly investigated and followed up to ensure people were protected from further harm.
“A relative told us: ‘They don’t have enough consistency with staff, I know it’s a national issue but there’s always a new face each time I visit.’
“Staff told us they felt staffing levels were too low. One staff member said: ‘If everything is going ok then there’s enough, but it just takes one thing to happen and we get consumed in it, meaning there’s one person or no-one to be on the floor.’
“Care plan reviews, handovers and daily records were handwritten, including where changes had been made, which meant information was confusing and difficult to follow.
“One person had recently experienced a fall, this was written in the daily notes and handover but there was no updated risk assessment or care plan.
“This put people at risk of receiving unsafe care and experiencing a further fall, especially given the service use agency staff who did not have access to clear guidance about people’s care and support needs.
“For example, one person had moved in months ago and did not yet have a personalised care plan for living at Asher Nursing Home.”
Cleanliness at the nursing home was also criticised in the report.
It said: “People’s beds did not always have sheets on them, meaning mattresses were getting soiled. There was no routine cleaning of mattresses occurring, increasing the risk of infection spread.
“Areas of the home needed repairs and cleaning, especially people’s bedrooms and communal corridors.
“This was not a nice environment for people to sleep or relax in and did not show respect for people’s dignity.
“Regular deep cleans of bedrooms were part of the provider and registered manager’s policy however these were not being completed.
“Staff told us: ‘We just haven’t got time along with all the other things we have to do.’”
The building itself was found in poor repair, with active leaks and a broken down lift.
The report said: “A ceiling on the top floor showed signs of water damage.
“Whilst we were on site, there was significant rainfall and we noted two areas of the home were actively leaking.
“The passenger lift needed repair and whilst people could manage the stairs, some found this difficult.
“One relative told us: ‘I wish they’d get that lift fixed, it worries me that [relative] has to use the stairs.’
The staff’s care and treatment of residents was also evaluated by inspectors.
The report said: “We observed staff interacting with people in a positive way, however, this was just conversational rather than supporting any activity.
“One person told us, “We don’t go anywhere, they used to have a bus, but they don’t use that anymore”.
“Staff expressed frustration in not being able to facilitate activities for people.
“One staff member told us: ‘I don’t know if it’s a budget thing or if there’s not always enough of us, but I would like to be able to do more with people.’
“We observed people wearing soiled clothing throughout our visit.
“Whilst staff told us that this was people’s choice, it was not clear from documentation what robust measures were in place to minimise this.
“Whilst some likes and dislikes for people were documented, it was not evident how these linked into the care people received.
“Medicines were not consistently managed safely. One person was routinely missing their medicine due to being intoxicated, however, there was no evidence of medical advice or intervention being sought when this occurred.
“This was raised to the operations manager at the time of inspection and action taken to remedy this.”
Parkview Care Homes was contacted for comment.
I have been running Mental health care home in Hove since 1988,however it has never been more challenging now than ever.
1,Covid changed the running of mental home dramatically ,we had to let residents smoke in their room to avoid gathering in smoking area ,with some psychiatric medicine it is unwise to change smoking habit suddenly as it affect the efficacy of the drugs.To change this risky habit is a monumental task.
2, since Covid the complexity of resident needs has increased exponentially.
Backup from hospital and social services is sporadic and haphazard.They are short of staff and resources.
3,The local council favours Supported Accommodation which in theory is better but mainly financially beneficial for the council as the fees is paid from 3 different sources.This lives care home as second class citizen..
4, The recent increase in the price of food and energy is crippling for care home but the payment of the resident’s fee has not kept up withe increase cost.
5, Since 2005,the mental capacity Act allows residents the right to make unwise decision,ethically speaking a brilliant idea but the resident essential are allowed to refuse their medicine, to challenge this for is time consuming and not always easy by the shortage of staff from the multidisciplinary team .
6,we are caught between a rock and a hard place(.CQC and the practicality of running a home with little resources and a staff shortage )
You must be referring to Davigdor Lodge. Your CQC report, whilst still saying Needs Improvement, was mainly around record keeping and reflecting. Interestingly, it doesn’t reflect your position on staff shortages, but, it’s not something that has been given good guidance on as a framework either!
The MCA is enshrined in law, and if you’re not comfortable about allowing residents to refuse and document this refusal, instead opting to challenge it, then it seems you could benefit from some additional training in this regard!
In my professional view, the most safeguarding referrals I have done have been overwhelmingly regarding substandard care in care homes. I think the system would do well to better framework the expected standards for providing safe and effective care.
A big piece of work to be sure, but one that I think is a very worthy cause to protect and ensure that our elderly are looked after in the most dignified way possible.
Safeguarding for vulnerable adults in the community (i.e sheltered housing). I am going to give an example, but not going to mention the housing provider, or exact circumstances for obvious reasons.
We live in sheltered housing, and I was in a panic and upset, and pulled the alarm cord saying for a situation developing just outside.
I said, “I want a manager here now, or I may have to call the police. I want a manager her now, or I may have to call the police. I want a manager here now or I may have to call the police”.
3 requests, and neither happened. We did get a call later from a manager, who pursuaded my partner to call the police. he did call the police, and the manager did call round, Very nice, supportive and professional. However, I feel let down that neither thing happenned from the off, perhaps things would not have escalated. A couple of months on, and to say I feel let down is an understatement. There’s onviously more to this, but I can not put anything. However, I feel there are safeguarding issues.
So very sad
This home is a shambles, the owners do not care about residents . The home is falling down. The staff try their best but are stalled by the lack of resources. This is an outrage that public money has gone to pay for a substandard level of care, whilst lining the pockets of a private company.
The people who have to live there are suffering and its a disgrace and shameful. The owners and brighton and hove council should hang their heads in shame. It is like stepping back in time to when people with mental health conditions were shut away from the general population. An utter disgrace and so sad.