Inspectors say people living in a Carlisle residential home were not receiving care that “ensured their dignity” or treated them with respect.

Morton Cottage Residential Home, in Wigton Road, has failed its latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection, being rated inadequate in each of the five test areas.

The CQC has ruled that services offered at the home were not safe, effective, caring, responsive or well-led.

In the report, the author wrote: “People who lived at the home did not receive care and treatment that ensured their dignity or treated them with respect.

“Procedures for obtaining consent to care and treatment did not always follow current legislation and guidance. This meant that people who used this service were placed at risk of receiving care or treatment that they had not agreed or consented to.”

It continued: “People who lived at the home were not protected from the risks of receiving unsafe care, treatment and avoidable harm.

“Medicines were not managed safely and people were placed at risk of not receiving their medicines as prescribed. There were no systems in place to ensure people were protected from the risks associated with infection prevention and control.

“The premises were not clean and properly maintained. Equipment was not used properly or safely.”

Despite the failings highlighted, the report does praise the staff, with inspectors speaking to one resident who said the workers were “very kind”.

“We observed that staff were well meaning and we heard them speaking cheerfully and kindly to people,” the inspectors noted.

“We also noticed appropriate interactions between staff and people who lived at Morton Cottage. Visitors to the home told us that their relatives seemed ‘happy’ and that they had never seen anything at the home to cause them to worry. However, this did not reflect our findings.”

The site can accommodate up to 32 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia.

Following an inspection in September last year – which also resulted in an inadequate rating – the home was placed in “special measures” by the CQC.

The service is being kept under review and a further inspection may be carried out within six months.

The latest inspection took place over three days in July and August.

No one from the home was available for comment.