A care home near Norwich where a resident lost 30pc of their body weight and another was “unlawfully” locked in their room for seven days has been placed in special measures.

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Grenville Court care home, on Horsbeck Way, Horsford, has been rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The CQC said “immediate steps” have been taken by the provider in response, including the removal of the manager and deputy manager, and a spokesperson for the home said “urgent changes” had been made.

The report highlighted an incident in which a manager had accepted the discharge of a person from hospital without a negative Covid-19 test. Government guidance says where possible a person should be isolated to reduce the risk of transmission, but the CQC report said an appropriate assessment was not undertaken to consider options and the person was “unlawfully” locked in a room for seven days.

The inspector said: “The manager had decided the person could not understand the need to isolate and in order to protect people in the home changed the training room into the person’s bedroom and locked them in this room.”

Another resident was found to have lost 30pc of their body weight because “action had not been taken” to monitor the risk of malnutrition.

The report said: “We received concerns in relation to the care and support provided at the home. In the four months prior to the inspection we received concerns in relation to staffing, nutrition, pressure areas, dignity, safeguarding and restrictive practice.”

In the latest visit to the home, which was rated good in December 2019, inspectors focused solely on safe and well-led categories, and rated it inadequate in both.

A spokesperson for Grenville Court said urgent changes were made, and it is now working with the county council and CQC to deliver a “comprehensive action plan”.

The spokesman said: “The CQC’s report is very disappointing and does not reflect our values as an organisation. The home was rated good prior to recent events and we are confident the changes we have made will enable us to achieve this rating once again.”

At the time, the home was providing care for 59 people, many of whom living with dementia.

The home will be reinspected in six months.