Southampton care home placed in special measures

A care home has been placed in special measures after inspectors found issues with safeguarding, care standards and its management.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated South Haven Lodge in Southampton as inadequate and said it would be kept under close review to ensure its residents were safe.

The watchdog said it issued three warnings to the home's management, Aurem Care, after an inspection found breaches of regulations relating to people's dignity and respect, consent, and safeguarding.

The home's owner, Aurem Care, apologised and said it had been working to improve it's performance with a "robust" action plan.

The unannounced inspection in September and October was made after the watchdog received concerns about the home, including from members of the public.

Safeguarding, staffing levels, care standards and the home's management were all cited as being causes for concern.

Among the issues discovered by inspectors were residents not receiving prescribed medicines correctly, and a resident deemed to pose a risk to female staff being able to leave their room unsupervised.

Another resident, at risk of choking, had not been provided with the appropriate food, which inspectors said managers addressed after they raised concerns.

They also found people "unkempt", that not all staff members "could be bothered" to shower people and that residents were often "ignored".

CQC director Neil Cox, said: "We were disappointed to find people's basic support needs weren't being met.

"We weren't assured that people were safe or protected from the risk of avoidable harm [and] staff couldn't demonstrate they understood their role in safeguarding people from abuse.

"We were very concerned about the risk of neglect to people living at the home."

Feedback from relatives about the home was described as "mixed", with one relative saying the home had "transformed" their family member's life, while another said they were "worried every day" about their relative.

In a statement, Aurem Care said: "We are very disappointed and sorry not to have reached the high standards of care we demand of ourselves.

It said its "robust action plan" was being overseen by the local authority and an independent consultant.

"We are confident that the home has benefitted significantly from the changes, including the appointment of a manager with significant experience in care home performance improvement," it said.

The full inspection report will be published in the coming days.

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