A care home in Hemel Hempstead has been told that it must make urgent improvements to its care training, standards and practices after a damning report following a recent inspection.
Officers from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited the Mountbatten Lodge in June 2013 on an unannounced inspection. They found a number of worrying problems with standards of care at the home, including:
• A person who had been without food or drink for over 17 hours
• Two residents displaying signs of dehydration
• One resident who had not had medication for three days, after supplies had run out
• Dirty bathrooms and bedrooms
• Bad odours in different parts of the home
• Some bins, including those containing clinical waste, left overflowing
Following the inspection, a report concluded that the Mountbatten Lodge care home was failing on seven national standards, including infection control, cleanliness, care and welfare, medication management and meeting nutritional needs.
The home has now been ordered to make urgent improvements. The management team have agreed to draw up a step-by-step plan showing how they will make the required improvements to standards at the home, which may include more advanced care training for staff.