Shocking failings at Shrewsbury care home

A Care Quality Commission report into Coton Hill House in Shrewsbury says staff also regularly failed to protect the dignity of residents.

Inspectors also found that one resident was locked in their bedroom at night as staff could not guarantee they would be able to respond to alarms in the room if other people tried to get in.

The home, on Berwick Road, looks after residents requiring a number of personal care needs, including some living with dementia. There were 44 residents at the home during the inspection.

Read the full CQC report on Coton Hill House here

A report into the inspection at the end of October rated the home as requiring improvement overall – with the category of how caring the service is being rated as inadequate.

It comes three months after the firm which runs the home was fined £50,000 after a "vulnerable" grandfather died there after he went a month without being given crucial medication.

The CQC report says: "We found that some people's continence needs were not well managed and their dignity was compromised. We saw one person had been incontinent and was walking around the home in wet clothing.

"We saw a staff member stop and speak with the person, they did not help them but carried on walking past them. We asked the member of staff why they had not taken action to wash and change the person. The staff member 'tutted' and walked back to the person and took them to get changed.

"We saw that other people's needs were not readily met and we could smell that people required help with their personal care.

"On both days of our inspection there were unpleasant odours in various parts of the home.

"On the second day we found two pairs of urine-soaked slippers drying on top of a bathroom radiator.

"The odour caused was unpleasant and showed little respect for people or their home.

"We clearly heard a staff member talking with a person about their constipation in the lounge area where other people were present."

Inspectors said they also saw staff using unsafe moving and handling techniques, putting themselves and residents at risk of serious injury.

They said the rights of residents were not always protected, with evidence of decisions being in the best interests of them not always being recorded.

And at times they said there were not enough suitably trained staff to meet the needs of residents – with one student left alone for 90 minutes to care for people they knew nothing about because staff had other jobs to do.

David Coull, chief executive of Coverage Care Services, which runs Coton Hill House, said the level of care provided during the inspection fell well below the standards expected.

He said: "We do not wish to offer any excuse for these failings and ask only that our service users and their friends and families accept our word that we are sincere in our efforts to correct all and any findings.

"We have moved immediately to put in place measures which will address and solve the concerns highlighted by the Care Quality Commission in its inspection.

"Each point has been examined and a strategy developed to address it, with very close oversight being provided by some of our most senior managers and executives.

"The management at Coton Hill House is being strengthened, new practices are being introduced and staff are being refreshed or retrained in all critical areas of their work, whether they be fundamental skills or specialist abilities.

"We have also committed to investment in the premises amounting to approximately £100,000, in order that we can tackle any deficiencies caused by the age of the building and provide the most suitable and comfortable environment possible for our residents to live in."