'Unclean' North London care home for alcoholics and drug addicts put in special measures

St Mungo’s Broadway care home in Holloway, North London, has been placed in special measures by inspectors after it was found to be ‘unclean’ with infection control problems and bedbugs.

The home in Hilldrop Road was rated Inadequate by the Care Quality Commission, after an unannounced inspection last November. It was rated Inadequate for being safe, effective and well-led and Requires Improvement for being caring and responsive.

St Mungo’s offers care for up to 29 men with a history of alcohol and drug misuse, homelessness and mental health conditions such as schizophrenia. The Care Quality Commission found the home was unclean and infection control was not being followed as adequate hand washing facilities were not always available and staff did not have access to sufficient personal protective equipment and cleaning materials.

A member of staff told inspectors: ‘We report to the managers that things are broken, toilets are blocked. They do nothing. Sinks are blocked, we cannot clean. There are infection control problems. They don't listen. There are no strategies to help us manage the job.’

Debbie Ivanova, deputy chief inspector of Adult Social Care for CQC in London, said: “People who use St Mungo’s deserve a good quality of care, which they are presently not receiving.

“The service has therefore now been placed into special measures. Services in special measures will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider's registration of the service, will be inspected again within six months. The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this timeframe.”

During the inspection, the CQC found toilets and bathrooms to be extremely unclean and in poor repair. Toilets and surrounding areas such as walls, floors and bath panels were dirty with faecal matter and other body fluids and floors were dirty and sticky.

People were not always receiving care from staff who were competent, skilled and experienced. The provider did not keep appropriate records of training, identify staff training needs or monitor when staff needed their training updated. Not all staff had appropriate regular supervision or annual appraisals.

Bedrooms were unclean, with furniture in a poor state of repair. Some bedframes were loose and therefore not sturdy and mattresses and bedding contained cigarette burns.

Toilets and bathrooms did not contain any hand washing facilities such as hand soap and hand drying equipment. The soap dispensers were empty and the hand dryers had been disconnected. Staff told inspectors that the management team had decided to stop the use of hand soap dispensers to cut costs.

Inspectors also revealed that one member of staff told them, "One cleaner works Monday to Friday. Especially on Monday, it's filthy. We are supposed to clean. Sometimes you walk over faeces. We are so out of touch. We run around and the clients are left on their own. Sometimes they stand in the office with urine dripping down their legs."

On day one of the inspection, inspectors became aware that there were issues with the management of bedbugs at the home as they observed a pest controller visit and assess the affected bedrooms. However, this was not officially brought to the attention of the inspection team, revealed the CQC.

Inspectors expressed their concerns to senior management at St Mungo’s Community Housing Association which runs the home during and after the inspection and an action plan was submitted to urgently address the areas of concern found during the inspection.

If the CQC finds the care home has not improved within six months, it will either shut it down or change the terms of its registration.

To read the full report go to http://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-124317862