A care home serving Richmond borough residents has been condemned by watchdogs amid evidence of poor care and residents being assaulted.

A staff member at Viera Gray House, in Barnes, told inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) they had thought of resigning as carers were 'breaking their backs'.

The CQC has given the home its worst possible rating, which is in sharp contrast to claims made for the home on its website.

This boasts that it is a 'beautiful yet homely purpose-built residential care home for the older people of Richmond, South West London and beyond'.

It adds: 'It delivers exceptional care and support to people with a variety of residential needs.'

However, the care home on Ferry Road was rated 'inadequate' following an inspection in October, which found multiple breaches of the rules. Inspectors said residents at the home were at risk of abuse.

The report said 'people had been physically assaulted by other people living at the service' but such instances were not always reported.

A healthcare worker said: "There have been several occasions where managers have not been made aware of serious incidents until time has elapsed, which has resulted in crisis situations."

A resident said: "If you need staff, it's not easy to get one if they are busy doing their routine work. Sometimes you have to wait a long time for help, maybe more so on the weekend."

A staff member added: "We are breaking our backs up on Wren [unit], I've thought of resigning."

Inspectors also claimed one resident had not been given their medication for two weeks.

The report added: "The culture within the service was impacted by the poor oversight and leadership and records showed, and a staff member told us, there was a closed culture at Viera Gray House."

There were 30 residents at the care home, which has been given the worst possible rating by the CQC, at the time of the inspection.

A spokesperson from Viera Gray House said: "We are deeply disappointed by the findings in the latest CQC inspection of our home and apologise for the shortcomings identified. Safety and effective management are an absolute priority for us. A senior team is in the home to reinforce care management and drive forward remedial actions.

"These actions are now well underway and include recruiting additional care staff, improving medication management and reinforcing safety through providing additional specialised training for colleagues.

"We have addressed all gaps in risk assessments and are working at pace to embed high standards across all our documentation."

"We are supporting our staff to consistently recognise and report incidents and safeguarding concerns, and are reinforcing our internal communications to ensure lessons are learned and that every colleague feels confident in the reporting process. We have also updated how we work with linked healthcare professionals and have strengthened our assessment of prospective residents.

"We have communicated these measures openly to our residents, families and staff and we are updating them regularly on progress. Feedback so far has been positive.

"The team is working closely with the CQC and the local authority to do everything required to learn from this experience, embed the improvements and return as soon as possible to an overall 'good' CQC rating, which the home has habitually received."