Care home inspected after whistleblower criticism

Byron Lodge Care Home in West Melton was rated good by the Care Quality Commission in December 2020 but dropped to requires improvement following the unannounced inspection in April.

The CQC’s report told of “poor meal time experiences”, and equipment, furniture and storerooms needing deep cleaning.

The Advertiser reported in 2021 on issues at the home after whistleblowers told of concerning incidents, including a bizarre alleged episode of a plumber pretending to be a policeman and telling a confused resident to get dressed.

Ex-employees also told the paper the incident — described in internal documents as “like a circus” — was part of a pattern of mismanagement, safeguarding breaches and staffing issues.

Parent company We Care Group insisted all incidents were fully investigated and reported to the authorities, safeguarding and disciplinary procedures were followed and staffing concerns were wide of the mark.  

During their visit to the home last month, inspectors reviewed the key areas of safety, which dropped from good to requires improvement, and leadership, which remained as requiring improvement.

Areas not inspected – caring, responsive and effective – retained the good ranking, leaving the home with an overall status of requires improvement.

Inspectors found “some gaps in the recording of medicines”, as well as an instance where stock levels of a prescribed medication had run out, leaving one resident without for five days.

“There was no evidence to show what action had been taken to obtain these medicines,” the inspectors noted.

“We raised this with the manager who took immediate action.”

Inspectors observed two dining experiences at the home on Dryden Road which “could be improved”, including in one unit where everyone was given drinks in adapted cups, when some preferred to drink from ordinary ones.

Audits had identified areas of improvement, but these were not always “actioned in a timely way”.

An infection control audit in March noted the sluice bin needed replacing, but this had still not happened when the CQC visited the following month.  

Inspectors spoke to five service users, two relatives and seven employees, as well as touring the facility – home to 43 people at the time, some of whom were living with dementia.

New manager Lindsey Thawley had been in post about four weeks, with people, relatives, and staff “speaking highly of her”.

One person said they were “very happy”, adding: “The new manager is nice.

“She’s doing stuff different – she’s improving things already.”

Staff were aware of what actions to take to safeguard people from the risk of abuse, the manager kept a record of any safeguarding concerns and could demonstrate issues were reported to the authorities and staff had received safeguarding training.

Residents also told the CQC they felt safe living at the home.

Some staff felt they sometimes lacked enough employees, with one saying they were regularly the only carer on a unit, but since the inspection, staff had told the watchdog the issue had been resolved.

Bernie Suresparan, chief executive officer at We Care Group, said the home was “disappointed” by the rating.

“We would like to reassure residents, their families and the local community that the new manager and all the team have put an action plan together to make the necessary improvements identified,” he said.

“We are pleased that we have the support of residents and family members who spoke highly of the new manager saying she was ‘approachable and taking action to improve the service’.

“We are confident that the home will soon be back to the good standard we expect with our homes.”