A DORCHESTER care home requires improvement after a report found that people were put at ‘risk of harm’ due to unsafe medicine procedures and were left with little to do but ‘sit and read’.

Badbury Care Home in Weymouth Avenue needs improvement in all five of the sections after its latest Care Quality Commission inspection in September.

The service provides care and support for up to 33 older people and is managed by Cheriton Care Centre Ltd.

At the time of the inspection there were 18 people living there.

This was the first inspection of the home since it became registered on January 12.

The report revealed the medicines procedures at the home were ‘not safe’ and some were labelled wrongly.

The room where the medicines were stored was ‘dirty with large accumulations of dust and dirt on the floor, the windows were dirty and dead flies were apparent around the frame’.

Staff had written the wrong name on a person’s blood pressure medicine, putting them at risk of receiving the wrong medicine.

The report said staff did not know people’s individual dietary requirements and were therefore putting them at risk of harm and there were insufficient staff to meet the social and emotional needs of the people living at the home.

The inspector spoke with management who acknowledged that at times they had been short staffed and told them about measures they are taking to employ more staff.

One person’s relative told inspectors they felt confident staff at the home provided good quality care.

One relative said: “Staff are kind and genuine, but there does not seem to be enough of them.”

The report said ‘whilst staff were caring, their work mainly revolved around the tasks they had to perform and showed little insight into people’s individual interests and aspirations’.

One member of staff said: “I wish I had a little more time to sit and talk with people but it’s a little difficult at the moment.”

Although there were some activities on offer they were limited to people’s ability to motivate themselves. One person said: “There is not a lot for me to do here except sit and read.

"I have been here two months maybe; I did play cards once with a staff member.”

The report highlighted individual care records were not consistently updated and ‘did not reflect people’s needs accurately’.

In four instances the records had not been reviewed since March 2015, although it was clear that their needs had changed.

However, people had no complaints about the service or the staff and spoke of the dedicated approach of the staff.

A spokesman for Cheriton Care Centre Ltd said: “Cheriton Care Centre Ltd purchased the care home earlier this year, following it having been in administration and close to closure for some time. The management team commenced a programme of recovery, which we acknowledge had not been fully implemented by the time of the inspection. As ever, the constructive comments of the CQC are welcomed and, as reflected in the report, we had identified areas for improvement and had plans in place. We are totally committed to rectifying the issues raised and indeed the majority of concerns were addressed immediately. Whilst ongoing refurbishment work continues on the home, we are pleased to announce the recruitment of a local and highly experienced manager to oversee this and take the home forward.

“The team at Badbury Care Home are committed to every aspect of the services we provide being at a consistently high quality level. We look forward to welcoming the CQC on their return visit very soon, at which time we are confident that improvements will be evidenced.”