Residents of ‘dangerous’ care home are rehoused

RESIDENTS of a failing Londonderry care home are being rehoused after inspectors said it was too dangerous for them to continue living there.

Health bosses are currently trying to find alternative accommodation for the 39 residents of Greenhaw Lodge Care Home amid concerns over the management of the home.

Significant repairs are also required to the water system meaning that residents “will have to be relocated to protect their safety, health and wellbeing”.

A Justice of the Peace has approved a request by Northern Ireland’s health watchdog, the Regulation and Quality and Improvement Authority (RQIA), for all residents to be moved until all concerns are adequately addressed. The action is even more significant as it is happening during the pandemic.

It follows an inspection of the home by the RQIA on September 8 and 10, when “concerns were identified regarding the governance, management and leadership of the home”.

Among the issues raised by the inspectors were infection control failings and the maintenance of equipment to support safe hot and cold water systems. Staff did not have access to hot water in a number of residents’ bedrooms, while the RQIA said the dignity of one resident was not being maintained during an earlier visit in February. A bad smell was identified in one unit and planned staffing levels were not being met.

It is not the first time management of Greenhaw Lodge Care Home has come under fire for conditions in the home. In March, it emerged it was failing to meet basic safety standards two years after faeces was found on the floor of the premises.

‘Staff did not have access to hot water in some bedrooms’