Care Quality Commission closed down Abbbeycroft Care Home in Southampton after NINE inspections in four years

Vulnerable residents were put at risk of infection from soiled clothes and scalding from hot water, prompting a watchdog to take action.

After nine inspections in the last four years, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) acted after having “serious concerns” about Abbeycroft Care.

The owner of the home – who operates three other care homes in Hampshire – accepts there were failings, but says the CQC should have given him more time to bring it up to scratch.

In a series of damning reports on the standard of care at the home, the CQC found:

•  Residents were put at risk of scalding by the temperature of water in their bedrooms
• Staff smoking and drinking tea while residents called out for help
• Residents left at risk of infection from soiled clothing.

The care home, in Swift Road, Woolston, looked after up to 20 people aged 65 and over, many of whom have dementia.

Relatives of people staying at the care home first raised their concerns about the welfare of residents in October 2010.

Since then, the CQC carried out nine unannounced inspections, some of which highlighted worries about staff training and levels, as well as the quality and consistency of care plans for residents.

In November 2012, inspectors ranked the home as acceptable in all of its standards, but three subsequent inspections uncovered a string of concerns.

The home was ordered to improve in eight areas at an inspection in November 2013, but on their final visit in May, inspectors found appropriate action had not been taken on any of the eight points.

They found that hot water in bedroom sinks was delivered at 50 degrees centigrade, which “posed a risk of scalding”, while fire doors were not managed effectively and “put people at risk”.

While they found that many staff acted properly and that residents “got on all right” with them, they said there were inadequate numbers of staff on duty at night, making them unable to meet residents’ needs.

Some residents did not get their prescribed medicine, while no members of staff were trained to use a special chair designed to help residents who had fallen.

Inspectors spoke to two external healthcare professionals working there, who said they did not receive appropriate supervision, and said staff were “very disorganised and lacking basic care skills” and that staff “don’t seem to understand people’s needs”.

There were also concerns over the risk of infection, with one member of staff spotted carrying a red bag containing soiled clothing, while not wearing protective clothing.

Inspectors said the member of staff left the bag on top of a bin in the laundry room, posing an infection risk by contaminating clean clothing.

The last residents left the home on October 17 after the CQC took legal action to cancel the care home’s registration, which allowed it to operate.

They have been re-homed at new homes, which are not operated by the owner of Abbeycroft, Robert Allan.

CQC’s deputy chief inspector of adult social care, Adrian Hughes, said: “The failings we witnessed at Abbeycroft Care were completely unacceptable.

“CQC took action to protect the safety and wellbeing of people by moving to cancel this home’s registration, meaning it could no longer operate.

“Taking action leading to the closure of any service is not something that we take lightly, but when we find very poor practice, as we did in this case, we have no alternative but to take action to protect the safety and welfare of people.

“I hope that this sends a strong public message that we are on the side of people who use services and will not hesitate to take tough action if a provider fails to meet the standards for care that everyone has the right to expect.”

City councillor for Woolston, Warwick Payne, below, described some of the findings in the CQC’s report as “disgusting”, and added: “I’m deeply disturbed by the CQC’s finding on several levels.

“Firstly, the question must be asked why the care home didn’t act in response to the previous CQC report which identified that changes had to be made.

“Secondly, I’m troubled by some of the shortcomings highlighted in the report, such as medication not being given and the handling of soiled materials.

“Thirdly, and perhaps most import a n t l y, there’s the issue of what the residents must have felt, and what their friends and relatives will be feeling now that the CQC has released its latest report.”

The council’s health and adult social care boss, Dave Shields, below, said: “It’s a shame we have got homes not meeting the standards we expect of them, but we are blessed that we have the CQC to work with the council to take action when necessary to drive standards up.”

ABBEYCROFT care home owner Robert Allan has hit out at the CQC and accused them of not giving him enough time to invest in Abbeycroft.

Mr Allan, a former nurse who bought the home in 2003, says he was stuck in a three-year-long legal battle with a national bank, which he says left him £1 million out of pocket.

This left him unable to fund the necessary improvements at Abbeycroft.

Mr Allan says he has since received £850,000 as a payout from the bank, and has carried out improvements, but that was after the CQC acted to cancel the registration at Abbeycroft.

He said: “I was a victim of the banking scandal, but the CQC and the city council aren’t interested.

“They were trying to get a Rolls- Royce service at pushbike money.

“Staff didn’t have training because I didn’t have the money to do the training.

“It was too much – I did everything I could to keep the company alive.

“I don’t think the CQC are up to it – they are out of date and out of touch.

“I’ve always been a nurse and that’s what I wanted to do but I’ve become completely disillusioned with it now.”

Mr Allan used to run Beechwood Care Home, in Portsmouth Road, which he closed due to financial pressures earlier this year.

He still runs a care home in Aldershot, Pinewood Rest Home in West End and the Oakwood Residential Home in West End Road, Southampton.

He said the CQC have temporarily banned Oakwood admitting new residents due to concerns raised in a recent inspection, which include a failure to manage care plans and concerns the home was not suitably designed and maintained for vulnerable residents.

He also added that while there was no issue or threat of closure to Pinewood, there was a “possibility”

financial pressures could lead to the closure of Oakwood.