These are the worst care homes in Kent as rated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The CQC's rating system has four options: 'inadequate', 'requires improvement', 'good', and 'outstanding', for five categories: Safety, Effectiveness, Caring, Responsiveness, and Leadership.

There are a large selection of homes in the higher categories, with over 20 homes in Kent reaching 'outstanding' level; however, the homes in this list fall a long way away from that status.

An overall rating of inadequate means the care home will be placed under 'special measures', and will be re-inspected within six months to check for significant improvement.

A home is very rarely in special measures for more than 12 months.

High Meadow Nursing Home

126-128 Old Dover Road, Canterbury, CT1 3PF

Latest inspection: 16 April 2019

This care home primarily looks after elderly care users, many suffering from dementia.

The inspection rated it 'inadequate' for safety, responsiveness and leadership, and 'requires improvement' for caring and effectiveness.

Inspectors reported that a lack of staff at the home resulted in some people sleeping in beds without duvet covers or pillow cases because the washing had not been done.

'I don't get a lot to drink, I am thirsty...'- High Meadow care user

They also said that one person asked their group for a drink three different times because their drink was repeatedly left out of reach.

The person told them: "I don't get a lot to drink. I am thirsty."

There were also "widespread and significant shortfalls in service leadership" that had not improved since the prior inspection in March.

A spokesperson for the home said that they had had another inspection last Friday (October 25), and while they were awaiting official confirmation, they felt that the outcome was likely to be very positive.

Phoenix Residential Care Home

45 Maidstone Road, Chatham, ME4 6DP

Latest inspection: 27 June 2019

The report for this home was fairly damning, with 'inadequate' ratings across the board except for caring, which 'requires improvement'.

The report stated that "Very few improvements had been made since the last inspection.

"The service provided to people who used the service was not good.

"[Inspectors] have identified six breaches at this inspection in relation to, risks to peoples safety and the safe management of their medicines; staff training and the numbers of staff on shift; people's rights and how they consent to their care; the support to maintain peoples nutritional needs; how complaints and concerns were dealt with; accurate record keeping and the lack of oversight of the quality of care by the provider.

"This was the sixth inspection where the provider had not achieved a rating of good."

'Paperwork has become more important than the people in care...'- Rita Grantham

Rita Grantham, who runs the care home, said that the inspection and rating made her worry for the state of the care industry.

She said: "We are at a stage now where paperwork has become more important than the people in care.

"For example, we had a care receiver lie in one day, she'd been up late the night before having a chat; we were then later brought up on not giving her her painkiller.

"She was asleep! If she really needed the painkiller at the scheduled time then she would have been awake and in pain.

"I've been in the industry since 1982, and it's just getting too much for me now. We have a new manager waiting who will take over once she has her papers."

Church Lane

21 Church Lane, Beasted, Maidstone, ME14 4EF

Latest inspection: 6 September 2019

Church Lane looks after a maximum of 20 adults with learning disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). According to the CQC Requires improvement for leadership, inadequate for all 4 other categories.

The inspection cited concerns over an incident of violence that happened between two patients at the home which had not been reported to the manager.

The report continued: "After the inspection, [the inspectors] received new reports of allegations of abuse that had occurred since we inspected.

"This evidenced the systems and processes in place to keep people safe were not working effectively."

There were also continued concerns over staff attitudes, although these were among a number of things that the report mentioned as improving on the last inspection.

'We are determined to achieve, and maintain, the required standards...'- Church Lane spokesperson

Not enough improvements have been made, however, to raise the rating above 'inadequate' and take the home out of special measures.

A spokesperson for Church Lane said: “Our objective is to meet or exceed all regulatory requirements and to ensure the health, safety and well-being of everyone living at Church Lane.

"We have taken immediate action to resolve the issues highlighted by the CQC and we are working very closely with all stakeholders, including families and commissioning authorities, to implement improvements.

"We are determined to achieve, and maintain, the required standards and look forward to demonstrating improvements in subsequent CQC inspections.”

Greenford Care Home

260-262 Nelson Road, Gillingham, ME7 4NA

Latest inspection: 19 February 2019

Safety, effectiveness and leadership were inadequate at Greenford according to the latest report, while caring and responsiveness required improvement.

The report highlighted a long list of things that inspectors argued needed drastic improvement, including medicine management, infection control, fire safety, record keeping, staff training and more.

Despite this, however, inspectors said:"People and their relatives told us they were very happy with the service provided and said they always felt safe.

"They spoke highly of the staff who assisted with their care and support."

The inspection meant that the home stays in special measures, but inspectors were also impressed with the new manager of the home, who the staff, patients and relatives said is making significant improvements.

The home has been contacted for comment.

If you want to see how care homes in your area are rated, you can do so via the CQC website here.

Read more: All the latest news from Kent