Longmead House

Longmead House is a care home located in Caterham, Surrey, providing personal care and support for up to 23 older people, some of whom live with dementia. At the time of the inspection, 15 people were living at the home. This summary outlines the findings from the recent inspection to help families understand the current standards and areas where the home needs to make significant improvements to ensure the well-being and safety of residents.

When looking at safety, inspectors found serious shortfalls that put residents at risk of avoidable harm. Risk assessments and support plans were frequently missing or outdated, and staff were witnessed using unsafe moving and handling techniques. Medication management was poor, with missing records, unaccounted-for tablets, and irregular audits. The environment suffered from persistent unpleasant odors, dusty and unclean communal areas and bedrooms, and a propped-open fire door. Furthermore, essential pre-employment background checks were not always completed for new staff members.

Regarding how residents are treated with compassion and respect, the home had mixed findings. While many residents and visitors spoke warmly of kind and friendly permanent staff, some concerns were raised about heavy-handedness from temporary agency workers and task-centred routines that overlooked individual needs, such as rigid scheduling for bathroom support.

In terms of tailoring care to individual preferences, the service fell short in several areas. Residents reported being bored due to a lack of meaningful activities, and the environment was not adapted to support people living with dementia. Care plans had not been reviewed for several months, and there were no regular meetings held for residents or relatives to share feedback or raise concerns.

Finally, the leadership and management of the home failed to meet required standards. The provider's quality monitoring systems and internal audits had not been carried out for months, allowing serious safety and cleanliness issues to go unnoticed and unaddressed.