A care home remains in special measures after being rated as “inadequate” by the health watchdog for a second time in less than a year.

During a follow-up visit of the services provided at Hevercourt, in Goodwood Crescent, Gravesend, inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found safety and safeguarding issues putting residents at “continued risk of harm”.

The family-owned service has been operating for more than 30 years and cares for up to 47 elderly patients, most of whom have dementia.

In September, KentOnline reported how it had been put in special measures after an initial visit in June 2024 found patients were losing weight because they were not being looked after properly and staff were “run ragged”.

But after a second inspection on February 25, the CQC has imposed urgent conditions to restrict the care home from taking on new residents without prior agreement from them. Its report was released today (Friday).

It comes after five breaches relating to safe care and treatment, safeguarding, staffing, and recruitment were found, putting residents at “continued risk of harm”.

CQC deputy director of operations in the south Serena Coleman said: “Staff didn’t take action when people’s health was at risk, and this had caused unnecessary distress and harm.

“One person who was at risk of constipation had not opened their bowels for seven days, and although staff identified this on day six they didn’t seek urgent medical support.

“We also saw details were missing from notes about what staff did when someone had choked on their food, and staff didn’t support people who had wounds on their skin to regularly change positions to prevent further injury.”

Inspectors also found staff didn’t understand their role in safeguarding people and protecting them from abuse.

Previously, they had identified that people were at risk of sexualised behaviour from other residents, and this remained.

Concerns were also not always referred to external agencies for investigation, and one member thought it was their manager’s responsibility to report them.

Ms Colemain said: “We also found leaders still hadn’t ensured there was enough skilled staff to meet people’s needs.

“Hevercourt’s living areas were spread out across two floors, and leaders told us they intended for a member of staff to be present on each floor, however, this wasn’t always the case.

“During the inspection, we saw a 20-minute period where no staff were present in a room with six residents. Incident reports showed 80% of falls happened during the night shift, but staffing levels hadn’t been reviewed.”

Staff were also found not to always be learning from training, with one member helping a person at risk of falls by guiding them as they walked backwards.

Medicines were still not being managed or stored safely, and people’s care plans were not updated and lacked detail.

Areas of the home, including people’s bedrooms, remained difficult to keep clean and in need of updating, including broken bathroom doors, no tops on taps, and old light cords hanging above beds.

Ms Coleman said: “We have told Hevercourt where immediate and widespread improvements are needed and have used our regulatory powers by restricting admissions and keeping them in special measures.

“We’ll continue to closely monitor the home to keep people safe and will return to reinspect.”

Hevercourt has been approached for comment.