A WITLEY care home for people with dementia has been judged substandard for the second time by Care Quality Commission.

Surrey Heights was rated “unsafe” by CQC in December 2015 and as requiring improvement in four out of the five areas inspected.

Following a further unannounced inspection in April 2017 made public last month, it was found the care home now required improvement in all five areas.

In February 2016, a former care worker at Surrey Heights Paul Balea, 37, of Birch Lane, Headley Down, was convicted of bullying dementia patients at the care home in December 2014.

He was given an 18-month community order and had to undertake 200 hours unpaid work and was put on curfew for three months.

He also had to pay £250 to each of the victims and a £60 victim surcharge.

Following an inspection in May 2016, CQC found a breach in relation to ineffective recruitment systems and made recommendations to the provider CHD Living to improve infection control, to improve care plans and the supervision of staff.

It received an action plan in response with a completion date by September 2016. At the latest inspection, the CQC team reported that although some improvements had been made as a follow-up to its recommendations and breach of regulation, it found “new concerns” that put people at risk of harm.

The report stated: “The home could be improved because it was not easy for people living with dementia or who had impaired sight to find their rooms or their way around the service as all areas looked the same.

“We made a recommendation that the provider researches and implements relevant guidance on how to make environments used by people who live with dementia more ’dementia friendly’.

“People were not always treated with dignity and respect. There was a strong smell of urine in people’s rooms and in the corridor outside rooms people had to endure. Staff were not always listening to what people wanted.

“Some peoples’ rooms were bare and lacked personalisation.

“Other rooms did have people’s own furniture and personal items so that they are surrounded by things that were familiar to them.

“On the top floor of the home there was no hot water in people’s rooms or in the communal bathrooms and toilets.”

Inspectors found the service provided by the residential care home in Brook Road was “not always” safe, effective, caring, responsive or well-led.

CHD Living was informed Surrey Heights was in breach of six statutory regulations, namely it had failed to

• Meet the mental capacity act

• Did not always provide safe care and treatment

• To assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of its service and

• Identify and mitigate risks and maintain accurate, contemporaneous records

The company had also not ensured that:–

• The premises were well-maintained

• Sufficient numbers of staff were deployed to meet people’s needs safely

• Dignity and respect was shown to residents

The CQC added: “We have asked the provider to send us a report that says what action they are going to take. We will check this action is taken.”

Group operations director Jon Stanley said: “CHD Living operates 13 registered services in the area and of these, 75 per cent of all CHD Living’s essential standards have been rated “good” by CQC in the past 12 months.

“This is compared to only 65 per cent of services nationally being rated “Good” by the CQC and so demonstrates our absolute commitment to providing excellent care to our community.

“While Surrey Heights was rated as “requires improvement” by CQC, we had received a number of very good reports from our internal and external auditors, as well as from Health Watch, who work closely with the CQC.

“The staff recruitment and retention challenges, well-known within the industry, and particularly in Surrey, contributed to the rating at this inspection.

“At the time of the inspection we appointed a new registered manager, who has made the necessary improvements at the service, including a successful recruitment campaign.

“Under this new leadership, concerns were resolved, and as a result, people have continued to choose to move into Surrey Heights and enjoy very good care.

“As well as our own internal inspection process, we have also received inspections from Surrey County Council’s quality assurance team, all of whom have recognised the improvements that have been made.

“We are confident a follow-up inspection will show significant improvements in the service together with the high level of care people are receiving, which we expect will result in an improved rating for Surrey Heights.”