A care provider was fined more than £1,000 following a scathing review by inspectors at a Tadworth nursing home.

Holmwood Nursing Home in The Avenue, was rated "inadequate" in almost all areas by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in their latest inspection report published on March 12.

CQC served a fixed penalty notice to Care Expertise Limited, the providers for Holmwood Nursing Home, as an alternative to prosecution.

Fines totalling £1,250 have been paid, CQC said.

On September 3, 2018 the CQC made an unannounced inspection visit to the home to review its care provision following guidance under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in order to make sure that the care providers were meeting legal requirements.

The report said that the investigation uncovered numerous flaws in the care provision offered by Holmwood Nursing Home, including in matters of safety, effectiveness and quality of care provided.

On matters related to safety at Holmwood, the CQC said: "The service was not safe. Safe staffing levels were not being maintained which placed people at risk.

"Infection control practices were poor. The service was dirty, smelled of urine and required a thorough clean. Equipment was also dirty and the maintenance of the environment required improvement."

The report also disclosed that, in its care provision, Holmwood failed to consistently apply the rules of a parliamentary act from 2005 which offers instructions on decision making for people who can lack the capacity to make informed decisions on their own.

The CQC said: "Application of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 was inconsistently applied which meant people were not always having decisions made in their best interests."

Most of the residents suffered from dementia at the time of the inspection, the report said.

Matters classified under "caring" by the CQC were also deemed inadequate according to the report.

The CQC said: "The service was not caring. People were not living in a dignified and pleasant environment. Staff did not always treat people well or with kindness and respect.

"People’s privacy and dignity was not maintained. People were not able to express their views about the care they received."

In the "Findings" section of the report, CQC said that the inspection had found serious flaws in the way the home was run that meant the residents being cared for were not protected from potentially serious risks in key areas.

Among the findings, CQC included the following assessments: "People were not protected from the risk of abuse as safeguarding incidents were not reported appropriately."

"People were placed at risk from poor infection control practice...Rooms were dirty and had what appeared to be dried bodily fluids including faeces on the walls."

The CQC report said that, following the inspection, the management had taken several measures to improve their service, including the provision of additional staff during both day and night shifts.

Dr Khaiser Khan of Holmwood Nursing Home told the Surrey Comet that staff at Holmwood had made a number of improvements following the investigation and were working closely with CQC and local authorities.

Dr Khan said: "The safety and the well-being of those living at Holmwood Nursing Home is our top priority. Since the date of CQC inspection over 6 month ago, a significant number of improvements have been made at the Home, including refurbishment, a new programme of activities, improve food choices, improvements to care planning records, a number staff have been recruited and additional staff training has taken place."

"We remain committed to providing a positive experience for those residents living at Holmwood and their loved ones, and we are pleased that recent feedback has been positive and has reflect the good quality of service our residents have received."

The full CQC report in available at: www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-1627341317/inspection-summary#caring