Bransgore care home told to improve after CQC assessment

Woodside Lodge failed to "constantly protect" its residents from abuse or harm, manage their medicines safely and ensure they always received safe and effective care, according to CQC.

Inspectors visiting the home on behalf of CQC also said it was "visibility dirty" and had a "strong odour of urine".

Woodside Lodge, in Burley Road, is a family run privately owned residential care home which that can accommodate up to 21 people.

Having previously been a ‘Good’ home, Woodside Lodge has now been graded ‘Requires Improvement’ by CQC.

Inspectors assessed the service between May 9 and June 16 following a ‘concern’ received, but their damning report has only just been made public.

Sharing their overall view of Woodside Lodge they said: “At this assessment we found the provider was in breach of seven regulations.

Woodside Lodge (Image: Google Maps)

"The provider failed to ensure they consistently provided person centred care, need for consent, safe care and treatment, safeguarding, good governance, staffing, and fit and proper persons employed.

“We found a number of significant concerns at this assessment and were not assured that the providers governance ensured people always received safe, effective, good quality care.”

On the area of safety, which was graded ‘Inadequate’, the report said: “We found significant shortfalls in the providers safeguarding processes.

“We were not assured the provider always took action or consistently shared the required information with the local authority to ensure people were protected from the risk of harm."

The report also noted "significant shortfalls" in the management of legionnaire disease control measures, which the service had "failed" to take action on. 

While most residents expressed they were generally happy with the care provided, the CQC assessment found “elements of care did not meet the expected standards”.

Concerns were also raised around the management of people's diabetes and insulin administration, how overnight care was provided, and the "dreadful" food on offer to residents.

Looking at infection prevention and control, the inspectors said: "On the first day of the on-site visit we noted areas of the home that were visibly dirty. This included a build-up of spider webs and dust in the main lounge lighting, excessive animal fur in the main office and areas of the home had a strong odour of urine.

"We also brought to the attention of the registered manager a window in a person's room which needed repair and had visible mould growth.

"On day two of the assessment we noted some improvements had been made to the cleanliness of the building from our previous observation in response to our feedback."

CQC served warning notices to Woodside Lodge Limited on July 12 for failing to meet regulations relating to safe care, safeguarding and governance.

For some of the breaches identified, the regulator asked Woodside Lodge to provide an action plan in response to the concerns identified.

A spokesperson for Woodside Lodge said: “Woodside Lodge was inspected under the Care Quality Commission new assessment process in May 2024.

"We would like to thank the CQC team for working with us to highlight some areas requiring improvement.

"Since May we have worked hard on these areas and have made lasting changes which have improved the quality of the services we provide.

"We have invested heavily in the premises, on staff training and new IT systems to help us document care provided using the best possible software.

"We are confident that Woodside Lodge will be rated Good at our next CQC assessment, which was the rating that we had held for many years prior to this inspection."