CATERING staff at a Denbigh nursing home had no formal training and did not understand the nutritional value of food.

Questioned by inspectors, staff said their service was “trial and error” and they simply did their best.

The staff at Plas Eleri Nursing Home also did not understand how to support residents who displayed challenging behaviour, merely offering them a cup of tea.

Following an unannounced visit in July, Care Inspectorate Wales served eight non-compliance notices to Atlantis Medicare, who own the business. Plas Eleri is registered to accommodate 35 people over 65 with dementia.

In their overall assessment of the home the inspectors say that staff are willing and try their best but lack the insight and skill to care for people with dementia.

“There is confusion and a lack of communication amongst the staff team and management about people’s actual needs,” says the newly published report. "As a result people do not receive the care and support they need when they need it. Therefore people are placed at unnecessary risk and do not experience enhanced well-being.”

The non-compliance notices cover such issues as inadequate care plans, insufficient staff numbers and training, poor medication handling and storage, infection control and liaison with other services.

"There is no clear leadership and management to provide a sense of direction or consistency,” the report continues.

On the subject of poor nutrition, the inspectors said: “Some people had lost a significant amount of weight and timely healthcare referrals were not made and/ or ad vice sought was not recorded to show how people’s needs would be managed.”

One resident seen coughing throughout a meal was said to be at high risk of choking, and though some staff said the resident was on a liquidized diet he was given normal food.

When the inspectors returned to the home four days later they issued a non-compliance notice calling for immediate action and one case was referred to the safeguarding authority for consideration.

“We spoke with catering staff who told us they did not know people’s individual nutritional needs and explained they did not understabd about the nutritional value of food,” says the report. “They told us nursing staff were responsible for this aspect of care and that nursing staff would tell them about any changes. They told us they were not qualified in catering.”

Atlantis Medicare has been asked to comment.