Care home hit with warning notice after inspectors found elderly residents were left waiting for help, not showered regularly and had their medicines ‘mixed up’

A care home has been placed in special measures after inspectors found elderly residents were left waiting for help, not showered regularly and had their medicines ‘mixed up’.

Lyndhurst Residential Care Home, in Middleton, has been downrated to ‘inadequate’ and hit with a warning notice following a five-day visit by the Care Quality Commission.

The watchdog ordered the Manchester Old Road home to improve in 2019, but when inspectors returned in August this year, they found standards had deteriorated and it was in breach of several care regulations.

The home, run by Atlantis Medicare Limited, has appointed a new manager and says it has now ‘greatly improved the service’ and this will be reflected in the next inspection.

It could be closed down if it fails to make ‘significant improvements’ over the next six months.

A newly published report records a catalogue of serious failings – from the safe management of medicines, to fire safety and infection prevention.

People were said to be at risk of harm because of failures to identify and address safety concerns.

The report adds: “The home did not have a safe process to check what medicine a person should be taking when they came to the home. Not having an accurate record increases the risk of medicine errors.”

Medicines were not always stored safely or securely. Inspectors ‘found missing high risk medicines and the home could not explain where they were’.

One relative told officials: “There have been issues with medicine going missing and they have administered medication incorrectly at least once,” while another added: “They keep getting the medicines mixed up.”

The report continues “We found four people had not had their antibiotics given correctly and we found eight people had not had all their medicines as they were out of stock.”

Staffing was another area inspectors found was ‘not safe’.

“People did not always receive timely support from staff. We reviewed two days’ worth of call bell wait times and found 51 call bells took over 10 minutes to respond to, and 28 of these took over 20 mins to respond to.”

One relative told officials: “It is very concerning when it is your mum and she can’t speak for herself,” while a care worker described staffing levels as ‘appalling’.

The report also notes that assessments to identify a person’s care needs and how these could be met were sometimes not carried out prior to residents coming to live at the home. 

Moreover, care records were not always in place for people with mental health needs, such as depression. And shower records indicated people were not regularly being showered.

People were also at risk of harm as health and safety risks were not being appropriately managed. 

Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPS) were either not in place or not up to date, while ‘necessary actions’ had not been completed following a fire risk assessment in March. The home was referred to the local fire prevention team.

Officials found window restrictors were not in place in some first floor rooms, creating an increased risk of falling. However, the manager rectified this during the visit.

And inspectors could not be sure a robust cleaning regime was in place and infection prevention practices were ‘not always safe’. The report notes several members of staff were seen not wearing face masks ‘appropriately’.

A spokesperson for the care home said: “We have recently taken over Lyndhurst and are aware of the failings within the home. As a new manager working with the current team and some new faces, we are working hard to improve previous poor standards and ensure the excellent care we expect is provided.

“Since the report we have greatly improved the service and this will be reflected in the next inspection, with a dedicated staffing team, and support from families and the local authorities we can only go from strength to strength.”

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter