Filthy care home is rapped by watchdog
AFILTHY care home with mould on the walls of the kitchen and toilets with no locks on the doors has been slated by inspectors.
Marland Court in Rochdale has been placed in special measures after a damning Care Quality Commission report.
The watchdog found the Marland Old Road old people’s home was ‘inadequate’ in two of the five areas assessed and ‘requires improvement’ in the other three.
In the kitchen the walls of a storage area were found covered with mould.
Inspectors also discovered a number of toilets and bathrooms didn’t have locks on the doors, which meant the ‘privacy and dignity’ of residents was ‘compromised’.
In one bedroom inspectors found a window with no curtains, dirty windowsills 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 being kept in the room.
This, inspectors said, ‘meant that the privacy and dignity of both occupants was not respected’.
The home didn’t have a full-time cleaner in place, 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’.
A relative raised concerns about understaffing during the CQC visit telling 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 to cover the plumbing had been carried out.
And 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 due to unnecessary hand contact with contaminated surfaces or waste’.
But the home was also praised by residents who told inspectors staff were ‘very caring’, ‘very friendly’ and ‘very kind’.
And the atmosphere in the home was said to be ‘calm and relaxed’ and inspectors noted residents were ‘well cared for’.
When a care home is put in special measures the owners are given six months to turn things around.
If following a second inspection standards haven’t improved the CQC has the power to close the home down or strip the owners of their licence.
Oldham-based Elizabeth House Ltd, which runs Marland Court, were contacted for a comment.