Health inspectors have condemned the appalling standards at a brain injury centre after patients were exposed to violent attacks including a sexual assault.

CQC officials visited The Hothfield Manor Acquired Brain Injury Centre in December last year and found that the management had failed to report incidents to the CQC and the local authority.

They also found “stinky” toilets and bathrooms, soiled laundry being mixed with clean laundry, and patients left soaked in their own urine for an hour because of staff shortages.

In their report published on Monday, February 22, inspectors said the centre is inadequate in every category and fails to meet the needs of its 31 patients who are recovering from acquired brain injuries.

The report states: “People’s safety could not be assured and people were at risk of harm from others. People living in the Manor House had experienced a number of physical assaults (including sexual assault) and verbal abuse.”

"People living in the Manor House had experienced a number of physical assaults (including sexual assault) and verbal abuse" - CQC report

Despite this, the acting manager claimed to inspectors there were no patients who displayed challenging behaviour.

But the report noted: “However, we established that this was not the case and saw records which showed that people used violence and threatening behaviour towards other people and staff.”

Another area of concern in the report was the squalid standard of hygiene and cleanliness. According to the report a staff member said: “Cleaning isn’t that good. The toilets are quite stinky and the flooring needs updating… it’s definitely not clean here.”

Meanwhile a housekeeping worker said: “Laundry is a bit of a grey area. I’ve been told soiled clothes go in the red bags, but I’m not sure.”

Some staff hadn’t completed infection control training, and had never been told to wear a protective apron when handling soiled clothes.

Meanwhile maintenance work to fix broken washing machines, leaky pipes and toilets not flushing had become a “sore subject” among staff.

The report noted that staff morale was at an all time low, with many saying they were “rushed” and “felt overworked” leaving them unable to meet patient's’ needs.

When asked about the impact of staff shortages, one replied: “[It has a] huge impact. People don’t get to do as many activities. Sometimes care isn’t met. Sometimes people are left for an hour in wet incontinence pads.”

The report noted that staff were not trained in how to reorder patient’s medicines, which had resulted in one patient’s medicine running out.

It also noted that patients were not always treated with kindness, dignity and respect, with staff failing to engage in conversation or build a rapport with those staying there.

Inspectors concluded that the service was not well led, and placed the centre into special measures. Managers will now have six months to turn the situation around.

A spokesman for Four Seasons Health Care, the company which runs the centre, said they "regret" that internal quality assurance processes "were below the standard we would expect to provide".

The spokesman said: "Our first consideration is for the wellbeing of the people in our care and so we voluntarily agreed with the CQC that we would not accept new admissions while we focus on implementing our comprehensive improvement plan."

The spokesman said that as part of the plan the management team has been boosted and more nursing and care staff have been employed. Meanwhile staff will be given refresher training and there will be "rigorous" management supervision to ensure high standards of care.

The spokesman added: "We are confident we are making improvements that are quickly bringing Hothfield back to the high standards that we and the regulator expect."

What are your experiences of the Hothfield Manor Acquired Brain Injury Centre? Have you been affected by this story? Share your thoughts. Email abarlow@thekmgroup.co.uk.