Care home rated inadequate by watchdog after residents’ families raised concerns

Sun Court Nursing Home in Sheringham.Photo: Google Street View (Image: Archant)

A nursing care monitoring group has taken special measures against a nursing home whose elevator is too small to accommodate a resident’s wheelchair.

Sun Court Nursing Home in Sheringham was rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission in its first inspection since it was taken over by new owners last year.

The home on Morris Street was visited by inspectors in October last year after concerns were raised by some residents’ families, and a report was published this month.

The report raised a number of concerns about the services the 22 people living there were receiving, as the home can care for up to 29 residents at a time.

These include:

• A resident in a wheelchair lives on the second floor even though the elevator is not large enough to comfortably accommodate a chair.

• Conflicting and inaccurate details kept in care plans and records

• Overseas staff struggle to communicate with residents due to language barrier

The unannounced inspection was the first time the home had been evaluated since it was taken over by Luminous Care Group.

However, it was not the first time it had been given an inadequate care rating, having been given the lowest CQC score in 2021 under its previous owners.

Bindu Matthews, managing director of Luminous Care Group, said the organization was confident improvements could be made within the next six months, when inspectors were due to re-inspect the site.

“We regret the content of the report we received after the inspection,” he said.

“During this time, we acknowledge that some aspects of our service were non-compliant with regulations, and we are working diligently to correct the issues raised.

“We have developed an action plan and have shared it with the CQC and Norfolk County Council and are in regular contact to update them on our progress.”