INSPECTORS who arrived at a Salisbury care home for a surprise visit found a vulnerable disabled resident outside the front door without supervision and a cleaning cupboard containing chemicals unlocked.

Health inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated Hulse Road care home, run by the Royal Mencap Society, as ‘requires improvement’ after it found a catalogue of concerns.

The report said: “When we arrived on the first day of our inspection one person living in the home was hoovering outside of the front door. There were no staff immediately present with this person and the door to the home was open.

“Although this was a positive experience for the person to be encouraged to undertake, there was no risk assessment in place to ensure this person remained safe whilst doing it.

“This person’s care plan stated that the resident is unaware of traffic dangers, stranger dangers, other community dangers and has no hearing or speech.”

During the visit inspectors also found that a cupboard had been left open with a bucket on the floor containing cleaning chemicals which was open to residents.

The manager of the home told inspectors that it was an “oversight” and the cupboard would usually be locked.

In a statement Mencap said it had immediately introduced a robust 12-week action plan, overseen by senior management, to fully address areas that required improvement.

Since the CQC’s previous visit in November 2016, inspectors found that medicine management had improved but it observed that a few areas still needed addressing.

The report added that improvements were still needed around the recording of mental capacity and consent, as support plans “did not show evidence that people had consented to live in the home”.

However, inspectors noted that the home was clean, and the relationships between staff and residents demonstrated “dignity and respect at all times”.