A care home where a staff member kissed a resident “on the lips” and the emergency call bell was used to order cups of tea remains in special measures.
The White House, in Maidstone Road, Chatham, has been rated as “inadequate” by the health watchdog for a second time in less than three months.
The service has been operating since 1988 and had been family-run before it was taken over by Curant Care Homes Limited in July last year.
It looks after up to 38 users, most of whom have dementia.
Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) first visited the home in March, where they found it “smelled strongly of urine” and residents were sitting in “wet clothes”.
During the assessment, it was found in breach of the legal regulations relating to safe care and treatment, safeguarding, staffing and training, dignity and respect, the management of the home, and not informing CQC of incidents they had a legal requirement to do so.
But after a follow-up visit on May 27, it was found the improvements had not been made.
Mrs Lara Ben Aicha, managing director at Maidstone-based Currant Care, which took over the running of the care home last year, told KentOnline after the home was inspected a second time following an anonymous complaint it took “immediate action”.
She says the staff and manager were dismissed and a new team is now in place.
A report detailing the outcome of the latest damning inspection was released today (July 17).
Commenting on its findings, CQC deputy director of operations in the south Serena Coleman said: “The provider wasn’t present during our inspection, and we saw that lack of leadership and accountability throughout the home.
“For example at our last inspection we found serious concerns with the home’s cleanliness. We found the strong smell of urine still remained in the reception area and two people’s bedrooms.
“Staff still weren’t always treating people with dignity and respect or meeting their basic care needs.”
In one instance, inspectors said they observed a member of staff kiss a person on the lips in a communal lounge.
But, according to the resident’s plan, they lacked capacity and would not have been able to consent to this “intimate act” taking place.
The member of staff and other colleagues that were present in the lounge had not recognised this was inappropriate and a potential act of abuse.
Ms Coleman added: “People looked unkempt, had greasy hair, were wearing mismatched clothes and someone was left waiting for more than 45 minutes after requesting support to go to the bathroom.
“Staff didn’t always record when people had taken baths or showers, and references to people’s distressed behaviours were undignified.
“One staff note referred to a person being very annoying throughout the night, which is no way to talk about someone you’re providing care for.”
Inspectors found people were not safe and were at risk of avoidable harm.
In the report, they say there was a lack of information on what actions had been taken to mitigate further incidents from occurring.
“Staff still weren’t always treating people with dignity and respect or meeting their basic care needs…”
In one case, a relative told the CQC they were not always given information on how their loved one sustained an injury, and said the resident had suffered a large bruise on their shoulder, but staff did not know how it happened.
Inspectors also found the home to have a “closed culture” and was a poor work environment where leaders spoke to colleagues in ways which were not respectful.
Ms Coleman said: “One senior staff member requested a colleague to make someone a cup of tea and appeared to enjoy the pressure it would put on staff to inappropriately use the emergency call bell for this.
“When staff had raised concerns about senior staff members’ performance, leaders didn’t take robust action to address this.”
“We have told The White House where immediate and widespread improvements are needed and have used our regulatory powers by keeping them in special measures. We’ll continue to closely monitor the home to keep people safe.
“CQC has also begun the process of taking regulatory action, which the home has the right to appeal.”
The White House care home has been operating from the same location since 1988 but changed ownership last July when the previous owners decided to retire.
It was purchased by Sibi and Shaina Kumar who operate Curant Care – a specialist home care company with outlets across Kent.
