A care home in Gerrards Cross has been placed in special measures following its latest inspection, which found that errors with medication had a “direct impact” on two people, leaving them hospitalised.

Buckingham House, off Oxford Road, part of the Maria Mallaband Care Group (MMCG) was deemed inadequate after a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in February, with the results published on April 12.

The home, which has 36 residents and offers a combination of nursing, residential and dementia care, was found inadequate in two areas while three areas require improvement.

While observing medicine administration over the course of two days, CQC inspectors said that care staff were “easily distracted” and found medicines were not stored safely, with the medicine fridge “not locked, but had medicine within it.”

On the first day of the inspection, inspectors saw the medicine store room unlocked and keys found in the door of the medicine trolley which was also unlocked and said that people who were “confused due to a dementia illness could have had access to medicines.”

Inspectors also looked at the care records of a person who had been admitted to hospital and found the home had not administered one of their prescribed medicines between January 24 and 29, because it was “not available in the home.”

The report said: “Their condition deteriorated and they were admitted to hospital. The nature of their deterioration indicated that the omission of the medicine may have been a contributing factor.

“Another person who was due medicine once a week had not been given it. This had not been picked up some three days after it should have been given.”

Care plan files were left out in communal corridors, meaning personal information was accessible to anyone visiting the home and said the service was not “well-led.”

However, inspectors did find that there was “good interaction” between staff and residents and that residents had access to food and drink throughout the day.

Relatives they spoke to said they felt the staff were caring, with one saying they were “superb.”

The CQC has now issued an Urgent Notice of Decision to restrict new admissions to the home until improvements are made and made recommendations about the management of complaints, infection control, gaining consent, training on dignity and fire risk management.

A spokesman for the MMCG, Vicky Craddock, said: “Senior managers are supporting staff at Buckingham House in order to ensure that the necessary improvements are made and sustained.

“We look forward to demonstrating this when CQC next visit.”

Read the full CQC report at https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-1575858963.