An under-fire nursing home has failed an inspection again after inspectors found it was still unsafe.

Salim Jiwa, owner of Firtree Nursing Home, in Banstead, has been given another chance to improve despite inspectors finding a catalogue of mistakes and errors potentially putting elderly people at risk.

Social care watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) went into the home unannounced on March 18 and 20 but only delivered its final report on June 12.

The inspection happened too early to deal with a fresh allegation that an injured 101-year-old was left to wait two days to see a doctor after seriously gashing her head in a fall.

Earlier this month: Under-fire Banstead care home left injured 101-year-old to wait for two days to see doctor

In its report, the CQC report found that despite improvements since a management consultant was brought into the home, many issues still remained.

It found the nursing home was not always safe, effective, responsive or well-led and "requires improvement" overall.

Examples of this included:

  • Gaps in care records and risk assessments uncompleted
  • Evidence of a climate of fear in the care home until recently
  • Staff not knowing some patients had special dietary needs, with one on a low sugar diet but the chef not aware
  • No criminal record checks for a volunteer taking elderly people for day trips
  • Gaps in employment history of some staff  "still not satisfactorily explained"
  • Still no registered care home manager since the last one resigned at the time of the inspection
  • Weekends when staff did not turn up and no-one else filled the gaps
  • People moved in wheelchairs without footplates which could cause injury
  • A person who wanted to walk around told by staff to sit down
  • Accident and incidents reported but not always resulting in any changes to care plans
  • Medicine waiting to be returned to the pharmacy but not destroyed so no-one else could take them
  • Pressure mattresses incorrectly set increasing the risk of people developing a pressure sore

One staff member said: "Before there wasn’t enough staff, now we have enough numbers but the issue is staff calling in sick."

From March: Owner of Banstead care home rated "inadequate" confident it will not be closed down

Residents said things had improved and staff were kind and caring. 

But they said things like: "I think the home is slowly improving. The new consultant manager is definitely the driving force, but I’m concerned that her days are being reduced." 

Another relative said: "The home just needs someone to manage it properly, be here every day, and have a proper routine and proper supervision. Sometimes there’s just no organisation." 

And: "The new consultant manager is just the job. We need her here seven days a week."

Other comments made by relatives included: "My concerns are the same as last time, but not as grave as they were due to the management consultant that has been bought in. The management of the home is key here."

And: "So little has been put into the house over a long period of time, but it is definitely getting better. But if the consultant goes, I feel it will go bad again."

"The consultant has introduced a better system of care planning documentation, but the documents are still a bit sketchy at the moment".

The management consultant said: "When I first came here there appeared to be a fear in reporting. I have put in a new accident and incident folder."

When this newspaper last spoke to owner Mr Jiwa after the serious injury to one of his 101-year-old residents, he would not say whether, 10 days after the incident, he had personal knowledge of what had happened, despite being the registered owner of the home. 

He later phoned back to say: "An investigation is ongoing and there is no other comment at the moment."

Tom Hurst, 61, from Epsom, a relative of a resident who had been at Firtree for four years, had criticised recent newspaper coverage of the home’s problems as "unnecessarily sensationalist".

Staff said they had only had two meetings so far with Mr Jiwa and they said it was: "Early days to see if the provider responds to our suggestions," the report said.

To read the full report click here.

Do you have a story to share about a care home in the area? Contact Hardeep Matharu by calling 020 8722 6346 or emailing hmatharu@london.newsquest.co.uk.