A 'poorly led' and 'unsafe' Isle of Wight care home, already in special measures, has been rated as inadequate for a second time, following another damning Care Quality Commission (CQC) report.

Regulatory action is being taken against Autumn House, Sandown, after it failed to address 11 breaches identified at a previous inspection, carried out between April 3 to 11 last year.

During the latest CQC visits, in February and March this year, inspectors continued to find poor leadership and a closed culture having "a detrimental impact on people’s lives".

Some of the home's 27 residents, many of whom live with dementia, were "neglected" and staff did not support people who needed help to eat, inspectors found.

The home was not suitable for people with dementia and inspectors observed people becoming disoriented and needing assistance.

Staff also served residents food which was unsafe for them or not in line with their dietary needs, and they put drinks out of reach.

One resident, who was a vegetarian, was provided with a beef hot pot for a meal.

Safety was another major point of concern, as staff were not safeguarding people from harm or providing people with the level of care they should expect.

Medicines were not always managed safely, and inspectors discovered that emergency call bell cords in ensuites had been tied up and were out of reach, meaning residents would be unable to call for urgent assistance.

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The report also found resident's care was not person-centred and staff were heard using "outdated language".

A further regulation breach, where leaders had allowed new staff to work without enhanced background (DBS) checks, was also discovered.

One such employee worked unsupervised caring for eight people, the report said.

Although employing a "diverse workforce", there was also a culture of discrimination towards staff from overseas.

For example, rotas showed overseas workers were working 12 hour shifts, a mixture of days and nights for over seven days without having a day off.

"This included being required to work when the service needed additional staff, this was not the case for other staff", the report said.

On occasions, staff were found sleeping on shift.

Neil Cox, CQC deputy director of operations in the south, said: “We’ve told leaders where immediate improvements are needed and we are in the process of taking regulatory action, which Autumn House Care Limited has the right to appeal.

"We will continue to closely monitor this service to ensure people are kept safe during this time.”

The County Press has contacted Janet Holmes, former director of Autumn House, for comment.