AN ISLE of Wight Council-run care service, where a patient was left without essential medicine for six days, has been criticised by inspectors.

The person did not receive a diuretic tablet for six days because their supplies ran out and staff did not follow up on the lack of a prescription.

The Gouldings, in Freshwater, was rated ‘requires improvement’ in three categories — effectiveness, leadership and safety — and ‘good’ for caring and responsiveness.

The overall rating was ‘requires improvement.’

Inspectors raised serious concerns about safety, and said there was an increased risk people could be harmed. When they inspected medications at the home, they found the numbers did not tally, indicating people had been given too much, or not enough, medicine.

When inspectors tallied the amount of fluids residents had drunk, they discovered it was frequently much less than the desired amount.

The Gouldings provides residential and home-based services to help people regain their independence after an illness, operation, or accident.

Inspectors found no shortcomings in the outreach service that supports people in their own homes.

People who used the service were quoted as being very satisfied with the quality of care and support they received.

The report quoted one relative who said: “The care has been incredible.”

However, staff were not always given adequate training, including on infection control and food hygiene. One staff member was not able to be booked onto a food hygiene course until six months after they had started working in the kitchen.

In the laundry room, soiled sheets were left to contaminate clean laundry, and staff were not always able to wash their hands in the sink before leaving, due to inadequate facilities.

Patients were also at risk of choking due to inadequate handover reports, which did not include information about their needs.

The Isle of Wight Council said it took immediate action to bring about improvements to the service.

Dr Carol Tozer, the council’s director of adult social care, said: “We are disappointed to be rated as ‘requires improvement’ but are determined to deliver improvements quickly and effectively.

“We took action from day one of the inspection which included staff training, changes to how we record the administration of medicines and how we undertake and update risk assessments.

“We have introduced additional senior leadership for the service and have secured the services of an independent expert to monitor our progress.

“Together with my colleagues who work at The Gouldings, we are passionate about providing the best service and support possible.

“We have already delivered a lot of extra staff training, made changes to some of our policy and procedures (including recording practice) and augmented the leadership of the service by bringing in an expert with a track record of excellence in residential and reablement care.

“We will continue to invest in the delivery of our action plan — and will be keeping the CQC fully up to date with our progress.”