Moormead Care Home in Swindon has been placed in special measures after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) downgraded the service to an overall rating of inadequate.
The inspection, carried out across February and March, followed up on previous warning notices issued last July over concerns surrounding safe care, staffing and leadership. Rather than progress, inspectors discovered further deterioration in standards.
Moormead, operated by Fidelity Healthcare Moormead Limited, supports adults, including those living with dementia. However, the inspection team found the home still in breach of key regulations and noted that no registered manager had been in post since last summer. Instead, the nominated individual had been overseeing day-to-day management.
The CQC has now imposed strict conditions requiring urgent improvements to ensure residents’ safety. These include better systems for recording care plans, clearer guidance for staff, and steps to reduce risks linked to medication, choking and malnutrition.
Neil Cox, CQC’s deputy director of operations in Hampshire, said:
“It is deeply concerning that on returning to Moormead Care Home we saw a decline in care standards rather than the expected improvements. We found gaps in care plans, missing risk assessments, and a lack of detail that could leave people at risk.”
Inspectors noted that some residents at risk of malnutrition had no clear record of this in their care plans, while risk assessments were often stored separately and hard to access. In one instance, staff miscalculated a malnutrition risk score which went unchecked. Plans for personal care were vague, with no clarity on when staff should step in to support someone or allow them independence.
Records also failed to show clear action after incidents. One example involved missing medication from a blister pack, yet the review paperwork lacked evidence of how or why it happened and what was done to stop it happening again.
Staff morale was found to be low, with several employees reporting a lack of supervision and feeling unsupported by management. Some staff admitted they often relied on each other rather than senior leaders.
Caring, once rated as good, has now dropped to requires improvement. Safe and well-led categories are now inadequate, while effective and responsive also remain at requires improvement.
Moormead Care Home will now be closely monitored by the CQC. Special measures place a clear timeframe on when improvements must be made, with the regulator confirming it will return for further inspections.
The full report will be available shortly on the CQC website.
