Police investigate care home after resident killed in road
VULNERABLE MAN, 70, WHO WAS HIT BY LORRY ‘SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN OUT ALONE’:
POLICE are investigating a care home after a vulnerable resident left the premises and was run over and killed.
The 70-year-old was the subject of a safeguarding order at Nada Residential and Nursing Home in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, which meant he could not leave the building alone.
He was struck by a lorry just 350 yards from the home on Cheetham Hill Road near the junction with Greenhill Road on February 21.
A report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in the wake of the death rated safety and leadership of the home, which was already in special measures, as inadequate. The report confirms the home is being investigated by GMP.
The report added that the man was subject to a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards authorisation which should have restricted him from accessing the local community without support from staff.
The inspector said in the report: “The information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of risk of absconsion, particularly for those people who lacked the mental capacity to access the community independently.
“Keypads were being fitted at the time of the inspection to prevent this from happening in the future; however this had taken two weeks to arrange after the serious incident.”
It also highlighted that residents had been able to open the front door and fire exit themselves and there were no contingency plans in place if people did not return at an agreed time. The inspector added there was no evidence that people had been shown the safest routes to go to the shops or how to use pelican crossings. Since the man’s death staff told the inspector that they support people to cross the main road.
The report said that new observations had been introduced which would alert staff within 30 minutes if people had left the building without informing staff.
The inspection – carried out on March 8 – identified three breaches of the health and social care act.
A previous inspection by the watchdog in December last year resulted in the home being put in special measures. A damning report found residents were allowed to smoke indoors despite a ban, and were concerned their cash and cards would be stolen by fellow residents.
If the facility – which looks after pensioners with dementia, mental health conditions and those in need of personal care – doesn’t improve within six months, it could be closed.
In a statement the home said:“Nada Nursing Home are working in close collaboration with the Care Quality Commission, the local authority and other relevant agencies in the best interests of all stakeholders.”
The manager of the home, Pierre Grenade, said: “There was an accident. The man ran away. We looked for him but he was hit by a vehicle. I was away at the time.”
GMP confirmed an investigation has been launched into safeguarding at the care home and said anyone with any information should call the Domestic Abuse and Vulnerable Adult Investigation Team on 0161 856 3669.