Care home in special measures

The Oaks Private Residential Home in Hindley, which cares mainly for people with dementia, has been rated as inadequate by health regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following an inspection in April.

The home is the sixth in the borough to be rated as inadequate this year, although Westwood Lodge has recently been re-inspected and deemed to have improved.

Inspectors found the home was in breach of 10 Health and Social Care Act regulations and raised concerns about the levels of staffing, the training they had received and the management of medicines at the home.

They found in some cases the way medicines were handled placed residents at “significant risk of harm”.

A report produced by inspectors reads: “People who used the service were not provided with adequate nutrition and hydration to meet their needs. The chef had no menus to work with and meals were planned around what food was available in home.

“The timing of meals should be reviewed as all the people who used the service were offered breakfast at 10am. This meant that people who were early risers had to wait for their breakfast.

“We saw that the activities were limited and the activity coordinator was deployed to other caring tasks. Not all areas of the home were clean and well maintained.

“We observed areas of poor infection control and a lack staff hygiene which could increase the risk of cross infection to people who used the service.”

Inspectors were also concerned that the home did not have sufficient measures, such as coloured hallways, pictures and signs, to help patients with dementia, who can become easily disoriented.

But patients and relatives told inspectors that staff were helpful and caring and they were happy with the care they received at the home.

The CQC will work with the home to help it improve but could force it to close if improvements are not made in the next six months.

The home’s manager Trisha Stratford said: “The inspection took place in April and we are working closely with Wigan Council’s Quality Assurance Team and the CQC and we there have been lots of changes here at the home.”

Jo Willmott, assistant director for provider management at Wigan Council, said: “The CQC inspection of The Oaks took place a number of months ago.

“We have worked closely with the home and CQC to put together a detailed action plan to ensure significant and sustainable improvements.

“A dedicated team of quality performance officers from the council have been supporting this work and this intense involvement, together with clear commitment from the Oaks has seen considerable improvements in a relatively short period of time.”