People were ‘put at risk’ at ‘inadequate’ Barchester care home

A damning CQC inspection report has found people were being put at risk of harm at a Barchester Healthcare home.

Ritson Lodge in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk was rated inadequate following an inspection by the CQC that was prompted by whistleblowing concerns.

The CQC said: “At this inspection we found people’s health, safety and well-being was being compromised in multiple areas and identified significant concerns regarding the management and leadership of the service due to ineffective governance and oversight arrangements.

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“People were being put at risk of harm due to unsafe management of medicines, poor record keeping and ineffective risk management.”

The inspection, which found a reliance on agency workers and that there had been several changes of manager at the service, discovered that one person had not received their medication for a week because of a shortage of medicines.

In another incident, a resident was found in the morning with skin tears and fresh blood on their legs and no record of the injury. Having found the person had still not been attended to by 4pm, the inspectors were forced to inform the manager and regional directors and request a safeguarding referral.

Resident feedback on the service was mixed, with one commenting: “Plenty of staff, they come when you need them. Not a problem.” Another added: “During the day [there is enough staff], but there is often only two or three staff on at night for the whole place. If someone needs two staff to sort them out, that leaves very little for the rest. That means the rest of us have to wait and I do wait some nights.”

A Barchester spokesperson said: “We take the findings of the Care Quality Commission very seriously and we recognise that changes needed to be made in the home as the report identified. Building on the positive developments recognised in the report, we have implemented a comprehensive plan which clearly outlines the immediate steps being taken to ensure further improvements in our service.

“We would like to reassure every one of our commitment to provide the highest quality of care to those living at Ritson Lodge and to emphasise that their health and wellbeing is at the forefront of everything we do.”