A care home has been placed into special measures following allegations of abuse and incidents not being reported.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Pine Lodge Care Home in Sittingbourne, as inadequate following an inspection in July.

This unannounced inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about access to health care, diabetes management, inaccurate records, staff training and support, medicines management and ineffective checks and audits.

The care home, run by Eleanor Nursing and Social Care Limited, provides accommodation and personal care for up to 59 people.

At the time of this inspection, there were 58 people living at the home.

The care home, which is located in Key Street, has been rated inadequate overall.

It has also been rated inadequate for being safe, effective and well-led. It was rated as requiring improvement for being caring and responsive.

As a result, the service is now in special measures, which means it will be kept under close review by the CQC to keep people safe and re-inspected to check sufficient improvements have been made.

Neil Cox, CQC deputy director of operations in the south, said: “When we inspected Pine Lodge Care Home, we found significant issues in many areas of the home including a lack of leadership.

“Our experience tells us that when a service isn’t well-led, it’s less likely they’re able to meet people’s needs in the other areas we inspect, which is what we found here.

“We found that people weren’t protected from the risk of abuse or restrictions.

“An allegation of abuse was being investigated by the local authority safeguarding team at the time of our inspection.

“Three further incidents hadn’t been reported to the local authority safeguarding team, including a fall resulting in a serious injury.

“People were at risk of continued harm because incidents hadn’t been investigated to understand what had gone wrong and how they could be prevented from happening again.

“Another incident between two people hadn’t been investigated internally. Neither had it been reported to the local authority for their investigation and there was a potential risk it could happen again.

“Inspectors saw there were staffing issues at the home. We found the provider had enough employed staff, but they didn’t have the skills to provide the care people needed.

“Following our inspection, we reported our findings to the provider, so they know the areas where we expect to see rapid improvement. If sufficient progress hasn’t been made, we won’t hesitate to take further action to ensure people’s safety and well-being.”

Pine Lodge Care Home and Kent County Council have been contacted for comment.

In the CQC’s report it is stated that inspectors found there weren’t enough staff with the skills, competencies and experience to meet people's care needs.

It was also noted that people didn’t have all their risks assessed and staff didn’t have the information they needed to provide for their needs.

Medicines were also not managed safely and people had not always received their medicines as prescribed, the inspector found.

People weren’t involved in their care planning and recruitment checks had not been completed to ensure staff were of good character and had the skills and experience required for their role.

CQC also found that although the provider identified areas for improvement it didn’t have the resources or systems to implement and embed these into practice.

People also weren’t supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff didn’t support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.

A spokesman for ENSC Limited explained the care home has “responded promptly to the valuable insights” collected from the recent CQC inspection.

They said: “At the core of ENSC Limited’s ethos is a dedication to caring for people.

“This commitment is further mirrored in the continuous staff training and development programs that the company undertakes.

“Last year, ENSC Limited acquired Pine Lodge care home, a step that was undertaken amidst challenging circumstances – the ongoing pandemic.

“The acquisition was met with unique hurdles, as the home hadn't been inspected for an extended period, and the conditions were far from ideal.

“Recognising the need for a shift in culture and standards, ENSC embarked on a journey of transformation, committed to making substantial improvements across all aspects of care provision.”

After the CQC inspection and subsequent report, the care home has collaborated with Fulcrum Care Consulting, a leading independent consultancy company in the field.

Marc Santhi, CEO of ENSC Limited, said: “We are delighted to work with Fulcrum.

“They have been an invaluable partner who has helped us to further identify improvements needed to uplift the standards.

“We’re encouraged by the feedback and have absolute confidence in the efficiency of the ongoing changes.

This will assure everyone that Pine Lodge's standards will reach new heights and we welcome an inspection from the CQC”.