Care home residents were endangered in dirty and poorly maintained facilities with a registered manager who mostly worked from home, inspectors have revealed.
Milestone House in Deal has been rated “Inadequate” and placed into special measures by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), after being in breach of regulations for the fifth consecutive inspection.
The month-long review uncovered a catalogue of failings, including a faulty vehicle winch that sent a wheelchair user rolling backwards down a ramp.
A scathing inspection report describes incidents left unrecorded, residents’ choices ignored, a filthy lounge carpet, and a broken-down minibus that left people isolated.
The CQC blames the manager’s absence for many of its problems after finding he had only set foot in the building eight times this year.
“The registered manager and provider had no oversight of day-to-day operations, had not been attending staff meetings and had not been carrying out audits and checks,” penned the watchdog.
Staff told inspectors they had not seen the registered manager for a long time, and said he is rarely on site.
One employee said, ‘The only monitoring [the registered manager] does is he reviews CCTV, he does it from home. He monitors for staff sitting down.’”
“In the last six months, he has not been here very much…”
Bosses, the report states, lacked the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively.
“They did not do so with integrity, openness and honesty,” according to the report, which highlighted how, in 2024, the manager attended the home just 31 times.
But since February 25 this year, he had “not been available on the telephone due to a medical condition,” the papers say.
Staff told inspectors that, over the past three weeks, the manager’s hearing had been impaired.
“In the last six months, he has not been here very much,” they told inspectors.
Officers found the manager had not suitably maintained the London Road premises and equipment, nor dealt with accidents and incidents promptly.
“The provider had not protected people from avoidable harm as they had failed to maintain the vehicle of the service,” says the report.
“The vehicle should have been checked regularly to check the lifting equipment was safe. This had not happened.
“The winch to the vehicle (to aid wheelchair users to access the vehicle) had snapped whilst being used on 8 May 2025 which has caused the person and a staff member to roll back down the ramp.”
During the visit between May 28 and June 27, inspectors also found a body map report for one person which showed bruising to their shoulder.
“Staff had recorded this may have been due to a fall that had occurred the week before but there was no log or incident record and the manager of the service was unaware there had been a fall,” the report continues.
“The provider did not have a proactive and positive culture of safety based on openness and honesty. They did not listen to concerns about safety and did not investigate or report safety events.”
“The registered manager and provider had no oversight of day-to-day operations…”
The CQC found the registered manager had also failed to keep up with training, engage with health partners or attend local authority meetings.
Milestone House – which has not been rated ‘Good’ since 2017 – was found to have poor facilities, with risks in the building “not always well managed”.
The lounge carpet was described as dirty and stained, while a resident’s bedroom floor was “uneven and patched with carpet tiles”.
Inspectors said the long-term, consistent failings to make improvements was proof Milestone House did not respect people and their rights.
Some relatives told inspectors they felt their loved ones were safe, but the CQC also found some residents’ choices had not been listened to.
“For example, a person’s records showed they did not want a bath, however they were bathed, which caused them anxiety and distress,” noted the report.
“People were not supported to attend church services.”
The report mentioned the care home vehicle had broken down, and because Milestone House had failed to find alternative ways of supporting people to access the community, “people to become isolated”.
Despite repeated requests by KentOnline, Milestone House declined to comment on the inspection or its findings.
