Northampton care home with black mould, stained armchairs and carpets that smell of urine rated ‘requires improvement’

The care watchdog visited Oak Lodge Care Home, in Duston, in April and May this year to assess the site. It found several concerns with the quality and safety of people’s care including possible risk of infection due to equipment not always being clean, residents at increased risk of falls during the night and people in distress not always being supported in a timely manner.

The care provider has said improvements and processes have been put in place since the inspection to make sure they “do not repeat any of those same mistakes going forward”.

In a report published last Tuesday (August 6) the CQC downgraded the home from its previous ‘good’ rating in 2018. Oak Lodge provides all-hours care to up to 36 elderly people and those living with dementia.

Of the five assessment points, it requires improvement in the safe, caring and well-led areas. The other two assessment points – effective and responsive were graded as good.

Inspectors found people with complex needs were left alone in the communal lounge or in their rooms for long periods of time without staff being available to support them.

“One person was tearful and distressed and there were no staff available to provide any support or reassurance for a period of two hours,” the report stated.

One resident told the inspectors: “You can sit hours when you want to go to the toilet, they [staff] don’t care, I haven’t had an accident waiting luckily… There is a bell but they turn it off so I have to shout if I need something.”

The CQC also noted medicine, cleaning products and objects such as scissors and cable ties were also accessible to people living with dementia.

The inspection found concerns with the cleanliness of the environment, equipment and furniture. It said the home was “visibly unclean” with “black mould in bathrooms, threadbare and stained carpets, damaged and stained armchairs and dirty moving and handling equipment”.

Another family member also relayed to the CQC inspectors their request to replace their loved one’s carpet with laminate flooring due to the “strong smell of urine”.

The CQC also reported people were at increased risk of falls during the night due to the low level of staff on shift. Records showed there had been a high number of falls since January 2024.

It wrote that staff administering people’s medicines were confident and knowledgeable about safe medicine practices and procedures. Residents were also supported to maintain relationships with their family and their relatives told inspectors during their visit that staff were kind and respected their privacy and dignity.

A spokesperson for the provider, Restgate Limited, said on behalf of Oak Lodge: “Having looked at the published report from the CQC, as you’re aware they rated five different areas and two of them are good and three they say need improvement.

“Our inspection was done back in April this year and since then we have been providing monthly reports to the CQC in terms of the progress we have made.

“This is what [CQC] found on the day- that doesn’t mean obviously that’s the practice we have in place. What they identified on the day we have responded to and made sure we do not repeat any of those same mistakes going forward.”

The care home also said they had West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) checking in on them on a regular basis to make sure improvements are sustained.