A BODMIN care home has been placed into special measures after an investigation was launched in the aftermath of the death of a resident in its care.

St Petroc’s Care Home, located on St Nicholas Street in Bodmin, has been the subject of a CQC investigation after the death, with serious concerns raised about the standards of care at the home after the death of the resident in July 2024.

Stonehaven Healthcare, the operator of the care home has said it has taken swift action to address issues.

In a report detailing the reason for the inadequate rating, the CQC said: “This assessment was completed following concerns raised to CQC in relation to deaths at the service, overnight staffing arrangements and the use of restraint. We looked at the key quality statements, safe and well-led. The inspection was prompted in part by notification of an incident following which a person using the service died.

“This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of risk of unplanned restraint. This inspection examined those risks.

“We identified seven breaches of the regulations. These were in relation to person-centred care, dignity and respect, consent, safe care and treatment, safeguarding and the use of restraint, staffing and management of the service.”

The report also indicated that people had told inspectors that they had witnessed staff bullying others in communal areas of the facility in addition into reports of staff using unplanned restraint to provide personal care against people’s wishes and a lack of oversight to create a ‘closed culture’ which exposed people to individual risk. It had been further reported that staff were misreporting and under-reporting injuries sustained by people in the service.

A spokesperson for Stonehaven Healthcare said: "Immediate action was taken to address the CQC's concerns, to ensure that all residents were safe, to implement a more open culture to enable our care team members to confidently discuss and report any future concerns and to ensure that improvements were being identified and addressed promptly.

"Stonehaven (Healthcare) Ltd have always been proud that standards have been high at the care home and were extremely concerned and bitterly disappointed that these standards had slipped."

"Following the inspection, for the benefit of residents and team members, immediate staff changes were made and new processes and procedures were introduced to provide greater insight with regards to the care being provided in the home. These improvements have been made working alongside the Cornwall Council Safeguarding and Quality Assurance teams and other visiting professionals, all of whom have acknowledged the improvements made at the care home.

"We have made significant improvements at St Petroc’s and look forward to the CQC visiting to conduct their next inspection. We look forward to the CQC inspector seeing these positive changes and meeting the new Care Home Manager together with her caring and dedicated team”