A care home in Devon has been slammed as unsafe and placed in special measures by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), despite receiving a ‘good’ rating last year.

Donness Nursing Home cares for individuals living with dementia and was rated ‘inadequate’ by inspectors during their unannounced visit in June, where they issued safeguarding alerts for five residents.

The CQC inspectors found low staffing levels, weak leadership, poor infection control and said some people ‘abused’ by another resident were not protected by the home.

However, the inspectors said there were examples of good care, with staff showing affection and compassion towards residents – but there were also examples which undermined people’s dignity.

The unannounced inspection happened following concerns made to CQC by two people about the overall quality of care at the home and the ‘poor practice’ of some team members.

Inspectors found staffing at the home was ‘poorly planned and potentially put residents at risk.’

The CQC report said: “Low staffing levels impacting on the safety of people at risk of falls as communal areas were not staffed in the early evening.

“People who had been abused by a person living at the home were not protected as staff did not ensure they monitored people’s whereabouts or observed communal areas in the early evening.

“Staff training was not well managed, and systems were not in place to ensure all staff practiced in a safe and care way.”

Donness Nursing Home received an ‘inadequate’ for the safe, effective, caring and well-led categories.

The report said: “This was because improvements were needed in staffing levels, skills and knowledge in supporting people living with dementia.

“If not enough improvement is made within this time frame so that there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will taken action in live with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service.”