A watchdog has rapped a care home after discovering “significant shortfalls” – including flawed diabetic care and a bathroom so cluttered residents were unable to use it.

Care Quality Commission inspectors unearthed a number of failings at Brenan House in Ramsgate, where staff had not been trained to monitor blood sugar levels.

Medication was not always managed safely and “some people had not received their medicines as prescribed”, its latest report states.

The watchdog highlighted discrepancies between the number of tablets available in stock and quantities held on an electronic database.

And some of the building’s areas had become so cluttered residents were unable to use the bathroom and communal areas, the health watchdog found.

Its manager has this week told KentOnline the home is working with the commission “to make the necessary improvements” required.

Brenan House has had a patchy recent history, according to the watchdog.

In September 2019, inspectors rated the service Requires Improvement after finding “multiple breaches of regulation.”

In a subsequent probe during October 2021 they ruled the home was no longer in breach, but kept the Requires Improvement rating.

However, in January this year the watchdog found standards had slipped again, the report explains.

It adds: “The improvements found at the last inspection had not been maintained and the quality of the service has deteriorated.“

Brenan House was this month rated Requires Improvement overall but downgraded to Inadequate in the ‘well-led’ category, where inspectors found regulations breaches.

Released on Friday, the report continues: “The registered manager had not acted when communal areas and the bathroom had become so cluttered that people were unable to use them.

“This limited where people who shared a room could have a quiet space to meet visitors.

“The registered manager told us staff would move the equipment out of the bathroom when people wanted to use it.

“But everyone liked a shower; there was a risk people would not be offered a bath because of the clutter.”

During the inspectors’ visit the obstructive equipment was tidied away, the report explained.

When people had been recently admitted to the service, their care plans did not contain “robust assessment” of risk to their safety.

The report added there were some care plans, but they did not contain guidance for staff about how to support people safely.

It was discovered some people were living with diabetes and received insulin from the district nurse each morning.

But the report stressed “there was no guidance for staff about how the person may present if they were unwell”.

Communal areas and the bathroom had become so cluttered that people were unable to use them

“Staff had not been trained to monitor people's blood sugar and would be unable to check the level and act if the person became unwell,” the report went on.

“This had not been considered by the registered manager and no management strategy had been put in place.

“There was no guidance for staff about additional risks to people living with diabetes, such as the risk of skin damage.”

The home used an electronic system to record the stock of people’s medicines and when these had been administered.

But inspectors found they were not always “managed safely”.

“There were discrepancies between the number of tablets available in stock and the number on the system,” the report said.

“Some of the discrepancies were record issues; the registered manager had disposed of medicines and had not updated the electronic system.

“However, two people had not received their medicines as prescribed, the medicines had been signed as administered but the stock available were incorrect and there was excess stock.”

Brenan House is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 16 older people in one large adapted building.

Speaking after the report was published, manager Sandy Brenan said: “We are committed to providing good care for our residents and we are already working with CQC to make the necessary improvements.”