The Care Quality Commission has issued a formal warning to Countrywide Care Homes Limited saying they must make improvements to standards of care at Argyle House, in Dallington, or face further action.
The warning, which could be followed by closure if improvements are not made, follows an unannounced visit by inspectors to the care home, which is in The Avenue, on October 1 as part of a planned review of compliance.
They found the owners of Argyle House needed to make improvements in relation to the care and welfare of service users.
Several failings caused concern, including that incontinence pads were not changed often enough, posing a risk of infection and some nurses were not trained in basic skills such as giving injections, taking blood and replacing catheters.
Other bad practice included a resident who was laid on their back for five days without being repositioned, which is against medical guidelines for preventing dangerous pressure ulcers.
In a separate case a pressure risk assessment for one resident had not been updated since February. The CQC report said the resident: “had to keep using call bells to ask staff to reposition them in bed as they were not being regularly checked by staff.”
And paperwork revealed another resident was denied a fortified drink that was had been prescribed to them by their GP for medical reasons on 18 separate occasions.
Andrea Gordon, a regional deputy director of operations at the CQC, said: “The law says these are the standards that everyone should be able to expect. Providers have a duty to ensure they are compliant.
“This warning sends a clear message that Argyle House needs to address this issue or face further consequences.
“Our inspectors will return in the near future and if we find that the required progress is not made we won’t hesitate to use our legal powers to protect the people who use this service.”
Argyle House provides accommodation for up to 87 people who require nursing and personal care.
The deadline for improvement is October 29. If improvements are not made, the CQC has a range of enforcement powers which include restricting the services that a provider can offer, or, in the most serious cases, suspending or cancelling a service.
The CQC can also issue financial penalty notices and cautions or prosecute the provider for failing to meet essential standards.
Details of the inspectors’ findings will be published on CQC’s website.