A care home in Reading is unsafe, ineffective and poorly-led, an inspection found.

Unexplained injuries at Downshire House were not investigated, a senior staff member was allowed to work while facing abuse allegations, and the service’s safeguarding and disciplinary records were missing.

This is according to a report published on October 15 following an inspection into Aston Care Limited’s care home in Downshire Square on September 13 by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Downshire House cares for adults with learning difficulties, autism, early onset dementia, epilepsy and other complex needs.

In their unannounced visit, inspectors found records for one resident stated they had no allergies, despite being allergic to penicillin.

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The cause of bruises on another resident’s neck was not investigated and no strategy was implemented to reduce the risk of reoccurrence, according to the CQC report.

Inspectors found a potential scalding and the disappearance of a person's prescribed controlled drugs and were not reported to the local safeguarding authority.

After an investigation into alleged emotional and psychological abuse by a senior staff member was launched, Aston Care Limited failed to remove the staff member while the allegations were looked into.

The investigation concluded the staff member needed additional training, but this was not undertaken, leaving residents at risk, the report found.

This staff member has since left the service.

Neither the nominated individual or the director had experience working in the care sector and neither had completed the provider's mandatory training, according to the report.

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Yet there was “overwhelming” praise for staff from relatives, who consistently treated residents with kindness and compassion.

One relative said, "It's a really good place. [Person] is really happy there. They [staff] know [person] so well and really care for him."

Another relative said: "I would say all of the staff are very caring, they treat [person] with kindness and respect. I visit weekly and have always seen kind and caring behaviour across the home."

Staff knew how to recognise different types of abuse and understood how to record and report concerns internally, the report found

But the CQC rated Downshire House inadequate based on five criteria: safety, effectiveness, care, responsiveness and leadership.

The service ‘required improvement’ in the ‘caring’ and ‘responsive’ categories, while it was deemed inadequate in all other areas.

There were not enough staff to keep people safe, meaning residents who required one to one staff support were frequently seen during the inspection wandering around the home unaccompanied.

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They were, however, treated with dignity and respect by staff when supported with their prescribed medicines.

While observed by inspectors, people were asked if they were ready to take their medicines and their wishes were respected if they wished to take medicines later, if they were not time critical.

Infection control was effective and up to date and people were supported to have enough to eat and drink and were encouraged to maintain a balanced, healthy diet.

Aston Care Limited did not respond to a request for comment.