Care home applies to close following scathing report

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

A South Croydon care home has been blasted after staff couldn’t hear residents crying out for help.

Sanderstead Care Centre has now applied to close down after the Care Quality Commission found serious failings at the home.

The watchdog carried out an unannounced inspection of the home in Sanderstead Road in June and published its findings yesterday.

It was home to 19 people, many with dementia, when it was inspected.

Inspectors rated the home “inadequate” and placed it in special measures.

The report said there had been a “large and frequent turnover of staff at all levels,” including four managers in the past four years.

There was also a reliance on agency staff who didn’t know residents well.

One relative said this had been “unsettling” for their family member, the CQC report said.

Inspectors also found that many rooms either had no call bells or ones that were not in reach for residents.

The report said: “On this inspection we saw people’s bedroom doors were left open. Staff said this was so they could hear when people called out for assistance. We witnessed people calling out for assistance but were unheard until we brought it to the attention of staff. This reflects the ineffectiveness of the call bell system in place at the time of this inspection.”

The report added: “Following on from this inspection the provider submitted a formal application to the Care Quality Commission to close the location.”

The care home was contacted for comment.

Pictured top: Sanderstead Care Centre in Sanderstead Road was rated inadequate by the CQC (Picture: Google Street View)