A care home in Ipswich for older and vulnerable people has been heavily criticised in a damning report by the health watchdog.

Kent Lodge Residential Home, in Woodbridge Road, put the safety and wellbeing of residents at risk due to a “continued lack” of robust systems, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said.

Only two out of five bathrooms were fit for use, with one having no heating all winter and others containing broken toilet seats putting residents at risk of falling. An inspection found that one “high risk” resident who needed repositioning in bed every two hours once went 26 hours without being moved.

But the new manager of the care home has pledged to turn around the service and urgently address failings raised by the CQC, which ruled four out of five key areas were inadequate – the worst possible rating.

The inspection was carried out on March 9 following an unannounced comprehensive inspection by the CQC on February 13 and 17, which uncovered “several continued breaches of legal requirements”.

The inspection in March found the front door to the service was left unlocked all day. The report also said that when asked about a resident diagnosed with epilepsy and diabetes, staff did not know what type of diabetes they had been diagnosed with.

The inspection concluded: “The service was not well led.

“The management of the service lacked direction and positive leadership.

“People were put at risk because there was a continued lack of systems for monitoring the quality and safety of the service.”

There were 21 residents at the time of the inspection. There are now 18, with the care home embargoed from taking on new residents.

Steve Trump, who took over as manager of the care home on March 18 and says he has managed care homes for 30 years, said: “The home has gone through difficult times in the past year and this is reflected in the CQC report. Prior to this, the home had maintained a very good reputation over many years.

“The report does not criticise so much the care of residents but the lack of robust systems in place in support of staff to carry out their duties.

“My task as the incoming manger is to improve the standards where there have been failings to rebuild relationships and to regain the confidence of the registering authorities and I will do this to the best of my ability.”

A CQC spokesman said: “CQC carried out an inspection at Kent Lodge Residential Home, Ipswich, in February, and again in March which highlighted a number of concerns.

“As a result CQC is taking enforcement action following these inspections. All CQC’s action is subject to a period of appeal.

“We have since carried out a further inspection at the home and, while a number of improvements have been made, we continue to monitor the service and work with partner agencies with regard to the safety and welfare of people living at the home and will report on any action we take in due course.”