'Sexual safety' concerns at 'inadequate' care home

A home caring for people with dementia where concerns about "sexual safety" and falls were raised has been placed in special measures.

The Limes Retirement Home on Earlsford Road, in Mellis, Eye, Suffolk, was given an overall "inadequate" rating after visits by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in May and July.

Inspectors found residents "expressing their emotions in a way which placed them and others at risk, including physical assault, exposure, urinating, pushing, hitting and kissing". Records also showed a "significant high number" of falls.

The home, which can provide care for up to 26 people, has been contacted by the BBC.

In its rating, the CQC said the facility's ability to be safe, effective, caring and responsive were considered "inadequate", while its capacity to be well-led "requires improvement".

The home was previously given an overall grade of "good" in 2022.

During the latest visits, inspectors found "people were not safeguarded from the risk of sexualised behaviours".

One resident raised that a person kept coming in their room and wandered "all over the place". They said the person exposed themselves "all the time, urinating, shouting, hitting out and upsetting people".

The CQC said "systems and processes were not in place and working effectively to safeguard people from abuse".

"We had concerns related to sexual safety and we raised an organisational safeguarding alert about widespread poor practice," it said.

Elsewhere, inspectors found frail and immobile people were living in small rooms with uneven floors and the home was poorly maintained.

A resident at the home, which only has one bathroom and one wet room, would also frequently urinate in common spaces, which resulted in stains and odours.

Many residents were left alone for long periods, inspectors said, with staff often finding residents on the floor, having fallen over when nobody was there to help.

"People's records showed a significant high number of incidents and falls," the inspection report said.

"The registered manager was not aware there had been 52 recorded falls in 6 weeks.

"There were more falls and incidents which staff had not reported or recorded."

Hazel Roberts, CQC deputy director of operations in the East of England, said: "We were deeply concerned to find the needs of people living with dementia weren't understood, putting their safety and wellbeing at serious risk.

"Leaders had very little oversight of people's care and it was concerning staff hadn't been trained to support people with dementia or mental health needs."

The CQC report added that staff left residents sitting for long periods and were not fire trained.

Employees also did not always ensure residents received their medications safely or as prescribed.

"During our inspection we saw people who were visibly distressed, anxious and left in unsafe ways, with staff unavailable to support them," added Ms Roberts.

"One person's wheelchair didn't fit through the doorways or corridors, meaning they weren't able to take a bath or shower, impacting their dignity and wellbeing.

"We've imposed urgent conditions on the home's registration to protect people and focus leaders' attention on making immediate improvements.

"We'll continue to monitor the home, and won't hesitate to take further action."

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