Staff at a care home that was at the centre of national attention during the pandemic have been left frustrated and unable to properly care for their residents, an inspection has revealed.

Pelham House Care Home in Folkestone has been given a rating of 'inadequate' following an investigation by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The focused inquiry, which took place in August, was sparked by concerns about people's safety and welfare, and medicines management.

It found that the home, which endured a devastating series of losses during the coronavirus pandemic, was not safe, not always caring and not well-lead, with numerous problems with leadership and staff levels.

In total 10 residents at Pelham died in just a few weeks from Covid last year - half the residents. The home featured on an episode of Panorama last July.

Roger Waluube, who owns the home, was called upon by the production team and creators of Channel 4 drama 'Help' to find out the reality of working in a care home during those early days, when there was limited information and resources were stretched.

News of the team's struggle garnered support from across the UK, with a fundraiser launched following news that the home was in "dire straights" and near closure.

At the time of the inspection the number of residents was one short of its maximum of 22, however inspectors found that the service's safety and leadership were inadequate, while the team's caring 'required improvement'.

Both safety and leadership had been rated 'requires improvement' at the last inspection but had since deteriorated, the report said.

Inspectors found that some medicine had been recorded as being given to residents, despite the fact that it had 'run out' and had not been restocked.

One person's important medicine which they needed to help them with their illness had not been signed for as given for three days, while another incident showed that peoples' eye drops had not been given as staff could not find them, only for an inspector to then recover the drops from a cupboard in each residents bedrooms.

The inspection also found that there were not enough staff to meet people's assessed needs, with one member of staff remarking to inspectors: "They (the management) expect too much from us.

"We work with the minimum amount of staff – there are only three staff working on the floor. We can't get everything done. We have lots of people who need two staff to help them."

Addressing the issue of treating residents in a caring manner, the inspection found that "although staff were compassionate, a lack of awareness did not always enable staff to recognise poor care or respond meaningfully".

"Staff did not take ownership of concerns they should have identified," an inspector added.

"This did not make sure people were well treated and supported or demonstrate the behaviours of a caring service. This is an area we have identified as requiring improvement".

Inspectors also highlighted "widespread and significant" shortfalls in service leadership, with "the leadership and the culture they created" failing to "assure the delivery of high-quality care".

"I feel like piggy in the middle. It is all about money..."

"There was a lack of leadership, oversight and scrutiny at the service which placed people at risk of harm," the report continued.

"Different senior staff had responsibility for several checks. They were defensive and did not take ownership of the shortfalls we identified throughout the inspection.

"When senior staff had identified concerns, and escalated them to the registered manager and manager, action had not been taken to address the concerns. For example, senior staff had raised concerns about the staffing levels but no action had been taken to remedy this".

One member of staff said: "It is extremely frustrating, all the time. There is so much I want to do but I am prevented from doing it.

"When you go above (to the registered manager) you are told no you can't have or can't do. I feel like piggy in the middle. It is all about money."

Roger Waluube, Pelham House Care Home owner, said: “At the end of a very turbulent time, a vigorous inspection from the CQC was bound to highlight lower administrative standards than we set out to achieve and provide to our residents.

“The pandemic brought upon us unprecedented and extremely high levels of service requirement and stress – to all levels of our team.Pelham House suffered a Covid outbreak after the return of a resident from hospital, who had been discharged without a Covid test result.

“Covid then spread throughout our home; the deaths of 10 residents and a huge staffing crisis followed as we trod water daily to ensure we had enough staff, resources, PPE and guidance to keep our residents clean, safe, fed, medicated and active.

“During some points, we had just five staff – well under the preferred regulated levels and this included me doing the cooking and cleaning. Working in these conditions was extremely challenging, exhausting, and no-one was prepared for it, yet we got through it; not without the mental scars that such a prolonged period of stress brings.

“In any profession or industry, at the end of a pandemic such as the one we have experienced, there aren’t many people or businesses who can say that they achieved everything to the highest possible standards. We wanted to do our best but haven’t been at our best.

“Care homes have faced huge challenges, with limited support from the Government when compared to the wider NHS – the stats highlight this without a question of doubt. The pandemic era has placed enormous pressure on our caring, hard-working staff – far beyond what them or us, ever expected of them.

“We are disappointed by the CQC report, and whilst we do recognise some of the points they make and have been working with them to rectify and take things forward, we also take issue with some of its conclusions. During the visit they complemented the care provided to our residents.

“Much of the CQC inspection focuses on audits, systems and processes. Since the pandemic we have been working very hard to keep on top of these elements of the home, as well as providing hands-on care.

“We recognise that in our efforts to continually provide our residents with the highest quality of care based on their individual needs, we have sometimes struggled to maintain the levels of administration required of us – and much of the CQC report hinges on this.

“Since the report, we have appointed a new manager, increased staffing to the highest levels known to our home, and brought in an independent care consultant to audit medication administration.

“We aim to take on-board, the views of all members of staff, and since the pandemic we have offered more healthcare benefits, counselling, and an increase in pay. We do appreciate the stress and strain they are under and will continue to aim to recruit the best possible people.

“We have a good and progressive working relationship with the CQC and our local authority and directed all possible resources to address administrative concerns raised in the report, in order to regain the ‘Good’ rating we had last year which our service deserves."

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