Wigan care home once condemned for being mouse-infested now has a waiting list

A shocking inspection report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out in 2018 found the The Acorns care centre in Hindley to be over-run with rodents in the kitchen, dining room and cleaning store.

A vulnerable pensioner also fell "face first" out of their wheelchair after going outside unsupervised.

The findings led to the care home being put in special measures.

The Acorns has since been taken over by a new provider, Dennis Moore Care Ltd - which owns another care facility in Leigh - and has now turned a corner. The most recent inspection by the CQC gave it an overall rating of "good."

The residential care home provides personal and nursing care for up to 39 elderly people, including those with dementia and physical disabilities, at its premises on Parkside.

Care director Karen Idle, who is in charge of the overall running of the centre with daughter Emma, said: "We took it over in the middle of the pandemic, while it was in special measures and to stop it closing down.

"Now we've turned it around and my manager Sara Porter has won Nursing Student Award of the Year out of 120 students.

"The home had a really bad reputation and we have achieved so much in so little time we want our local community to know the great work that’s carried out. All the staff have worked so hard and now we've got a waiting list."