A Walsall care home has been placed in special measures after health inspectors allegedly found a resident lying on the floor in a communal area - while staff remained oblivious.

Inspectors were also said to have found Parklands Court Care Home residents left in their beds until lunchtime.

Some were also allegedly found sleeping in the wrong beds and residents with dementia ‘attacking and punching each other’ without it being reported.

The Bloxwich home, which accommodates up to 163 elderly residents, was also found to have staff shortages and was put into special measures after the July inspection.

A report published by the CQC (Care Quality Commission) said that the care home, run by Bupa, had six months to make immediate improvements or risk losing its registration.

It said: “On one occasion we walked into the lounge and saw a person had fallen from their chair and was lying on the floor.

“The staff member was unaware as they were observing the person on one to one.”

Inspectors also found poor management of nutrition and medication.

Often staff did not have time to attend to the personal care of residents, with records showing one woman had not had her hair washed for three weeks.

One member of staff told inspectors: “On this unit we normally work with six (care) staff in the morning and five in the afternoon.

“With these numbers we are only allowed to give basic care and don’t have time to provide quality care.

“For a unit of this size with only six (care) staff, the corridors are unmanned and people are at risk.

“Normally there are people going into other people’s bedrooms, sometimes found asleep on other people’s beds.”

One relative also reported personal items going missing from a residents’ room, and being ‘frightened’ by other residents.

Another told inspectors: “I don’t think they have enough staff to check on people as often as they should.

“We frequently arrive to find [person] slumped in bed, uncomfortable and not having been turned for ages.”

But a spokesman for Bupa said managers had made ‘significant improvements’ since the inspection and had recruited more than 10 new staff members.

Steve Hamblett, Regional Director for Bupa Care Services, said: “We’ve made significant changes since the inspection three months ago.

“We’ve recruited over 10 new team members – so we now have a full care team – and we’ve carried out additional staff training.

“We fell short of the high standards we set ourselves but we’re making progress to get the home back up to the level of quality care our residents expect.”