Two care homes have been given formal warnings by a health watchdog for “failing to protect” vulnerable residents.

Poor standards of care were found at Greenways in Southwick and Homewood in Worthing during surprise inspections during the summer.

At Greenways, inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found that the home stank of urine, was “unclean throughout” and was “placing people at the risk of infection”.

Some of the elderly residents told the inspectors they wanted to leave the home in Victoria Road. Others complained that it was dirty. It was also found during the July visit that those living at Greenways were “not protected from the risk of receiving care that was inappropriate or unsafe”.

There were not enough staff on duty, care plans did not always reflect the needs of residents and crucial specialist handling equipment was not available.

The CQC issued a formal warning to manager Brenda Clark ordering urgent improvements or face further action.

Last week CQC inspectors visited the home again and found the problems had been addressed.

Mrs Clark told The Argus: “I think it was really unfair. We clearly just had a bad day. But we’ve made sure we’ve sorted out the problems and we’re now being told everything is OK.”

At the Homewood home in Worthing, inspectors issued two warning notices after discovering that “people’s privacy, dignity and independence were not respected”.

Notes of physical abuse between residents showed one person even lost teeth during a fight but these incidents had not been reported.

The inspectors also found the manager had told staff that if they were not cutting residents’ toenails then the people in the home could not get rewards like chocolate or going to the shops.

New staff at the home in Shakespeare Road had not gone through proper checks, leaving vulnerable people at risk.

Carol Williams, manager of Sutton Court Nursing Homes which runs Homewood, insisted there had been “no physical abuse”. She said: “There were a few anomalies that we have addressed and we have been told that we are now compliant.”

Ian Biggs, deputy director of CQC in the south, said: “The standards of quality and safety in care that CQC checks are those that the law says everyone should expect.”