Kent care home sees physical altercations and residents "crying for help"

From sitting in old clothes to ending up in physical altercations, care home residents in Kent have been put through the ringer, according to the health care watchdog.

An inspection of Priory Mews Care Home in Dartford found a care home in "poor" condition, with inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rating it as "inadequate". The care home looks after 112 people, offering personal and nursing care across five buildings.

Inspectors deemed the care home to be unsafe, ineffective, uncaring and not well-led, citing a number of problems with the way the it was run and maintained.

Chief among these issues were the evident distress of residents - and how staff would walk away from them when they were troubled - and the unpleasant environment they were forced to live in.

In their report, inspectors said: " We saw people becoming distressed during the inspection and witnessed incidents of agitation and frustration between people. Staff walked away from the situation during some of these incidents. The lack of appropriate guidance around people's heightened distress and aggression.

"One staff member told us a person had punched them during an incident of distress. Another staff member told us they had locked themselves in the office when a person became very distressed. Neither incident had been logged.

"We identified at least three incidents where people had been physically assaulted by another person which had not been documented."

The care home was also found to have poor environment and hygiene standards, with people wearing the same clothes for multiple days at a time.

"The environment was poor in some areas - some bathrooms were cluttered and unclean with items in easy reach that could be unsafe for people walking around," inspectors said.

"Bathrooms which were accessible to people contained disposable and electric razors, toiletries and people's prescribed creams, which could pose a risk to people.

"Some people looked unkempt, with hair unbrushed and unshaven. A relative told us that sometimes when they visited their loved one they would be in the same clothes for two to three days."

RCB Health Care Group, which runs Priory Mews Care Home, was contacted by National World for comment.