Residents at a Dumbarton care home do “not feel safe” amid threats from others living there, illegal drugs being sold within the premises, and weapons being found in rooms.

A recent inspection conducted by the Care Inspectorate slammed conditions at Alderwood House after finding it weak and requiring “substantial improvement” in every area it was assessed.

Just before the five-day October visit by inspectors, the manager of the home – purposely built to offer care to vulnerable people with mental health needs – was suspended and subsequently resigned.

And, perhaps the starkest finding of the report was the fear some residents lived in from others within the service.

It read: “It was concerning that people within the care home did not feel safe.

“There had been numerous incidences of residents being threatened by other residents. One of the residents was known to have been selling illicit drugs to other residents.

“This meant that people did not experience dignity and respect and did not feel protected within the home.”

Amid the concerns was security at the home, with several residents having the code to the home and able to come and go as they pleased. This was assessed to have put “individuals and other people living within the home at risk as a result.”

This worry was amplified by the discovery of weapons found in more than one resident's room.

The report continued: “At the time of the inspection people living within the home had been exposed to risk from illegal drugs being brought into the home by other residents. They had also been exposed to potential risks from weapons that were found in people's rooms.

“A letter of serious concern was issued to the provider during our inspection requiring them to address the above issues urgently.”

The Care Inspectorate found a high number of incidents had been reported to the manager with people experiencing stress and distress.

However, there was no evidence that a complaint or concern was ever followed up.

The report added: “We found no evidence of any complaints which had been recorded and investigated by the manager.

“However, we were aware that some people had raised issues of concern with the manager which were not recorded as complaints.

“There was no evidence that concerns were followed up. This meant that the service did not use concerns or complaints to drive meaningful change within the service.”

During the inspection, assessors spoke with five people using the service and 14 among the staff and management.

Staff training at the home was found to be mainly in the form of e-learning, and, whilst there had been a high uptake of this training, worries surrounded the poor uptake of one module that related to supporting people with mental health issues who were in crisis.

There were also gaps found in recruitment levels, with staff references, qualifications and interview notes all missing from their file.

A spokesperson for Alderwood House said: “We take the report from the Care Inspectorate incredibly seriously and we are fully focused on ensuring everyone at Alderwood House receives the highest standards of personalised, quality care and support.

“We are instantly making the required improvements and we have already taken several steps to address these issues.

“We are working alongside the Health & Social Care Partnership, local multi-disciplinary partners and our existing management team on the standards of care and resident outcomes.

“We would like to reassure the relatives of our residents that the safety, comfort and wellbeing of our residents remains our absolute priority.”

The Care Inspectorate has given the new Alderwood management dates in January to make the improvements required.