Dirty care home put in special measures
A DIRTY, unsafe care home slated by inspectors for having mould on kitchen walls and toilets without locks has been put into special measures.
Bosses at Marland Court in Rochdale were ordered to make drastic improvements by the health watchdog in a damning report.
Care Quality Commission ( CQC) bosses found the old people’s home was ‘inadequate’ in two of the five areas assessed – and ‘requires improvement’ in the other three.
Inspectors said the walls of a kitchen storage area were covered with mould.
A number of toilets and bathrooms didn’t have locks on the doors, which meant the ‘privacy and dignity’ of residents was ‘compromised’, they added.
In one bedroom, inspectors found a window with no curtains, dirty window sills and floors, and an ‘open bin with a dirty wound dressing’.
The male occupant of the room had been taken to hospital and another female resident had been moved in, but his clothes, toiletries and other belongings were still in the room.
The home didn’t have a full-time cleaner. Instead, staff cleaned the home ‘when they could’.
And at most times inspectors found there were only two staff on duty at the home, which had 16 residents.
This was despite the fact four residents needed two staff on hand ‘for all their care needs’, two people needed help eating and drinking and two others were ‘prone to wandering’.
During the CQC visit, a relative told inspectors ‘staff are busy and not always around’.
Unguarded radiators and hot water pipes were found in three bedrooms and the lounge, which ‘posed a serious risk of harm’ to residents. But the report adds a joiner was called during the inspection, and afterwards the CQC was informed the work had been done.
Concerns were also raised about the disposal of clinical waste, with inspectors finding bins that were either missing, had no lids or which had to be opened by hand, ‘posing a risk of spreading infection’.
The home was also praised by residents, who told inspectors staff were ‘very caring’, ‘very friendly’ and ‘very kind’. The atmosphere in the home was said to be ‘ calm and relaxed’ and inspectors noted residents were ‘well cared for’.
Bosses at the home now have six months to turn things around, or else the CQC could close the home or cancel its licence.
Oldham-based Elizabeth House Ltd, which runs Marland Court, has not replied to the M.E.N.’s request for comment.