THREE Hampshire care homes have been told to improve after a string of unannounced inspections.

The Care Quality Commission has branded one home "inadequate", while another two have been told they require improvements.

The watchdog has described the service at Woodcot Lodge Care Home as "not safe, effective or well-led" after inspectors visited the home in Gosport earlier this year.

They have also told Osborn Manor in Fareham and The Old Parsonage in Otterbourne that improvements must be made in areas including safety, effectiveness and leadership.

All three homes provide accommodation for elderly people, some of whom have dementia, and were visited by teams of inspectors in March and June.

Inspectors listed several breaches of the Health and Social Care Act at Woodcot Lodge, where they were repeatedly told by staff, residents and relatives alike that workers were "rushed off their feet" and there were not enough at the home, which provides personal and nursing care for 85 people.

During their visit they saw residents walking around without supervision, occasionally into each other's bedrooms, saying this put them at risk.

And they also listed incidents where staff had not attended to residents' needs, include one occasion when someone's trousers fell down and they then fell over.

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The Old Parsonage, pictured above, has been told to improve in four out of five areas, with inspectors saying a failure to link risk assessments to care plans meant some patients' risk of developing conditions was not identified.

There were also concerns raised about medicine being left in unlocked rooms where anyone could find it, and that nurses were "stretched" at times.

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Osborn Manor, pictured, was also visited in June, and the CQC report says it must improve in three of five areas of care, with shortcomings in its audits and checks on medicines.

The inspectors also found that there were gaps in training records, while care plans were not comprehensive enough.

A fourth home, Oak Tree Lodge in Ashhurst, was also visited by inspectors in June.

It was ranked overall "good", but inspectors did say it requires improvement in safety, with risks not always being assessed when people's needs changed.

Liz Fairhurst, Hampshire County Council's executive member for adult social care said she was unable to confirm whether it had placed any residents in these homes but said: "What normally happens when homes fail their CQC inspections we send people in to help them sort it out and ensure the safety of all the residents not just the ones we place there."

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INSPECTORS visited Woodcot Lodge, pictured above, on three days in March, with a report saying the home had a "history of non-compliance with regulations" since September 2013.

While a report says improvements had been made following earlier inspections, it has ranked the home in Rowner Road as inadequate in safety, effectiveness, responsiveness and leadership.

It found that staff were very busy, with some residents saying they were "rushed off their feet" and there were not enough to meet the needs of people at the home, meaning sometimes "people did not have their needs met and were at risk".

The report said staff, who were largely praised by residents and relatives, had also complained staffing levels were not sufficient, while some people were seen by inspectors wandering about without supervision into each other's bedrooms and therefore being put in positions of risk.

It also found risk assessments and care and medical records were not completed as often or as accurately as they should be, while people "did not receive personalised care which was responsive to their needs".

Inspectors said they had seen one person's loose-fitting trousers fall down, exposing their underwear and continence support items, which was not spotted by staff. The resident then fell over, while on another occasion the CQC team said they heard one resident in the lounge calling for 20 minutes with a staff member set next to them writing notes and ignoring their calls until the inspectors went in.

The report also found that complaints were not recorded or investigated enough, while it said that some staff did not have the skills and training to support residents in certain situations.

A spokesman for Four Seasons, which runs Woodcot Lodge, said it was "very sorry" that care did not meet the CQC's standards, adding that it is implementing a new improvement plan that it is working with the county council and the CQC on.

They added: "The improvement plan includes staff training and additional supervision to ensure that our processes and procedures to support quality of care are strictly followed. We are using a recognised “safe staffing guide” to be sure there are always the right number and skills mix of staff on duty for the needs of our residents.

"We are committed to deliver person-centred care that meets the individual needs and preferences of each resident and we are reassessing residents’ care plans with them and their family members to ensure this is being provided at all times. We are liaising closely with the CQC and the council and we will keep residents and relatives fully informed of developments."

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OSBORN Manor in Fareham was deemed to require improvement in three areas after an inspection in June.

The home was rated good in care and responsiveness, and improvements had been made after concerns were raised in a previous inspection.

However the CQC said audits were not effective in identifying concerns and where actions had been identified they were not always completed.

Some stock-taking checks and auditing of medicines had not taken place while on one occasion medicine was found in a food fridge.

Residents and staff said staffing levels were usually adequate, but one resident with mobility issues they had been unable to go out every day as they liked to as staff were too busy.

There were also gaps in training records, with three of 14 staff not receiving safeguarding training and 11 of 14 not receiving specialist dementia training, while care plans did not often provide enough information to other staff members so they could know how much someone should be eating or drinking.

Gaps in the care planning system included one instance where information about one resident's diabetes was not included, including what action should be taken in a medical emergency.

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BRENDONCARE has acknowledged issues raised by the CQC in its inspection at The Old Parsonage in Otterbourne in June.

The watchdog ranked the home as requiring improvement in four out of five categories, including safety, effectiveness, responsiveness and leadership.

Failings included not always linking risk assessments to care plans, which had meant that the fact that one person was at an extremely high risk of skin damage was not included on their plan and neither was the susceptibility of another resident to pressure ulcers. They subsequently developed an ulcer.

The report also found that nurses "felt stretched at times", while medicines were not always stored safely, sometimes being kept in a fridge in a room that was unlocked.

While morale was described as "good" and that staff enjoyed good relationships with residents, it also found that a lack of storage space for equipment such as walking frames and wheelchairs meant they had to be kept in a bathroom while a small number of people were nutritionally "at risk" and care planning required improvement.

Carole Sawyers, chief executive for Brendoncare, said: "We welcome the CQC's feedback on how we can improve the services which we provide to our residents at The Old Parsonage.

"We are confident that the changes we are making will address the concerns highlighted and help us to continue to deliver the best possible care for people living there."