A Thanet care home has been branded unsafe in a shock report.

Montagu Court Residential Care Home in Cliftonville was criticised by watchdogs who discovered:

• Equipment used to assist people bathing was very dirty
• People were recorded to have eaten, when not actually doing so
• Staff recruitment systems did not protect people from staff who weren’t safe to work in a care service
• Staff being disrespectful to the residents
• People at risk of being unlawfully deprived of their liberty

The report was based on a surprise inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of all health and social care services in England.

The home, now renamed Montagu Care Home, is under new management.

New owner Kunle Awosanya took over the business in October last year.

He said: "We are working closely with the CQC and Kent County Council social services to ensure the safety and wellbeing of residents, their families and our staff."

The care home was at risk of closure after the CQC took enforcement action to cancel the previous provider’s registration.

Spokesman for the CQC Yetunde Akintewe said: “Cancelling a provider’s registration is not something we take lightly, it is removed when we believe people are at risk or it is unsafe for people to be in the care home.

“The removal of a registration means the provider cannot run and cannot provide care services anymore.”

The report, which is available to read in full on the CQC website, revealed that residents felt staff didn’t like them – with one person telling assessors: “Sometimes X (staff) and Y (staff) are rude to us.”

Another person said: “X (staff) is not very nice to us, sometimes they are quite rude and sharp.”

It was found others were at risk of becoming dehydrated or malnourished.

The report read: “One person’s records showed that they had eaten a slice of toast and drunk a cup of tea for breakfast on the first day of our inspection.

“The person did not eat and drink anything for breakfast that day.”

During the two-day visit CQC inspectors found that equipment was dirty.

The report said: “A bath seat and an overhead hoist were provided to assist people in and out of the bath.

“The bath seat was very dirty and needed cleaning.

“A bath seat and an overhead hoist were provided to assist people in and out of the bath. The bath seat was very dirty and needed cleaning..." CQC report

“The seat had several small splits in it and people using it were at risk of being pinched by the seat, especially as some people had fragile skin."

It was also found that residents were also at risk of being abused.

This section stated: “The provider did not operate effective systems and processes to immediately respond to allegations or evidence of abuse.”

Several staff had also told CQC inspectors that when they had raised concerns with the provider, the provider had failed to address them and had ‘swept them under the carpet’ or dismissed them as ‘a misunderstanding’.

The inspectors were then told that staff no longer told the provider about situations that concerned them.

And there were not enough staff with the right skills and experience to provide basic care such as baths.

The report said: “Not everyone using the service received regular baths or showers, as staff did not have the time to help people. During our two day inspection two people received a shower or bath. One person told us, ‘This is different from last week. They were short staffed so we couldn’t have a bath’.”

There were no plans in place for evacuation of residents in the event of a fire.