A DAMNING report of a Wokingham care home has found care records were being falsified and overflowing boxes of dirty syringes were uncovered.

A surprise inspection by the health watchdog found care at The Berkshire home in Barkham Road, Wokingham was inadequate.

Safety, effectiveness, and leadership at the nursing home for over 65s was given the lowest possible rating by the Care Quality Commission following a five-day inspection.

The caring and responsiveness at the BrighterKind home was rated as ‘requires improvement’.

The inspectors found staff were falsifying records of when immobile patients had been turned in their beds.

The report details inspectors visiting a patient at 10am and 11am. Records said they were repositioned at 10.40am. The inspectors returned at 3.39pm and found the last repositioning was still 10.40am.

When they returned at 5.10pm a new repositioning had been added into the register at 2.38pm.

The clinical room which contained two yellow tubs for used syringes were so full the lid could not be closed and the end of syringes stuck out the top.

The report reads: “Some equipment and furniture was dirty and not cleaned properly. For example, during the home tour on the first day we noted that call bell handsets had dirt residue in the joint seams and presented a potential infection risk.”

The report comes after Thames Valley Police announced the care home, along with Woodbury House, also run by BrighterKind, is being investigated for neglect.

The allegations date back 10 months and a dedicated email address, BrighterKind_Enquiries@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk, has been set up for concerned residents.

The CQC inspection found two residents were left with long dirty nails. Staff said one of them had refused help with their nails but no record of the attempted help was recorded. The nails had been cut by the time inspectors returned to the home.

A spokesman for BrighterKind said: “Since February we have been implementing a comprehensive improvement plan in close liaison with Wokingham Borough Council Strategic Commissioning team.

“We had recognised the need and had already started working with the council to bring about these improvements just before the CQC inspection.

“We are confident we are making improvements that are quickly bringing The Berkshire Care Home back to the high standards that we expect to provide.”