A care home where mattresses were getting soaked through to the base with urine has been put into special measures.

The ranking follows an unannounced inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at the Windmill Care Home in Rollesby.

In its report the watchdog judged it inadequate in four of the five main areas as well as overall.

A spokesman for the home said it was working really closely with Norfolk County Council and the CQC and that improvements had been made and were ongoing.

The spokesman stressed residents were not lying in wet beds.

The Windmill is home to 28 people.

Issues included a lack of activities for people with dementia, care records not being updated, and a lack of staff.

Concerns about the safety of the home were raised, particularly over a marquee which was acting as a temporary lounge while building work was going on.

The report said: “One person told us: ‘Sometimes I do feel safe and sometimes I don’t because I think I am going to fall. I am frightened of falling.’ We were told and we saw the marquee was often left without staff presence and people had fallen without support available.

“When we looked at the accident records we saw that people had fallen in the marquee but there was not a plan to reduce this risk.”

Monitoring of pressure ulcers was also said to be poor.

Every staff member told inspectors there were not enough staff.

Elsewhere the report said: “Some of the bed bases were wrapped in cling film. We were told the bed bases were getting soaked in urine and having to be thrown away and the cling film was a way to protect the bed bases.

“It was obvious from the fact bed bases were getting wet through mattresses that people were not receiving personal care frequently enough.

“The solution to the problem would be to provide more frequent personal care not put cling film on the bed bases.”

People were in their wheelchairs for most of the day, the report noted.

It said: “We saw one person sat in a quieter lounge on their own all day and we did not see them moved to eat their lunch in a different environment or moved from their wheelchair. We did not see them receive support with their personal care. People were sat in the same position for up to five hours and potentially longer.”

On the plus side some residents spoke highly of staff saying they were caring and “lovely people.”

A visiting clergy said the home had a pleasant atmosphere and that staff were doing their best.

After the inspection visiting professionals said the registered manager had “good intentions, but was struggling with the work load.”

To read the full report click the link here.