Police probe '˜bed rail incident' at Wigan care home

Bosses at Norley Hall Care Home are currently remaining tight-lipped about the nature of the event, which sparked the ongoing police probe back in August.

Other news: Wigan MPs say Brexit deal is a 'failure'

The residential care home also came under scrutiny from health watchdogs as a direct result of the accusations.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission visited Norley Hall unannounced in September. They found the home to have breached several health and social care regulations and ordered management to make improvements.

Inspectors wrote: “The inspection was brought forwards due to a specific incident involving bed rails, which had occurred at the home on August 30, 2018 and is subject to a police investigation.

“In light of this incident we wanted to assess the quality and standard of care currently being provided to people living in the home. As a result of the ongoing investigation, we did not look in to the incident as part of this inspection.

“However, we did look at the system and process in place for bed rails to determine if there were any risks to other people living at the home.”

Inspections raised concerns in relation to safe care and treatment, safeguarding people from abuse or improper treatment, staffing and good governance.

Regarding bed rails, they reported that procedures had changed following the incident to ensure that the correct procedures were in place.

The report adds: “During this inspection we checked to see what documentation was in place in relation to the use of bed rails, including planned safety and maintenance checks.

“We saw risk assessments had been completed for people with bed rails in situ.”

Despite inspectors’ fears, guests at the home who were interviewed for the report were complimentary about the staff and said that they felt safe in their home.

A spokesperson for Millennium Care Ltd, which owns the home, said: “The CQC report details that there is a positive culture of care at Norley Hall. Our residents that were spoken to had praised the staff for how safe they felt in addition to stimulating activities and enriched dining experiences at the home.

“Each person spoken to confirmed that they had no concerns with the level of care with relatives also being complementary of the care provided to their loved ones.

“We accept that the CQC have a very valuable role to play in inspecting and governing adult social care services and we acknowledge their recommendations and findings.

“The inspection was thorough and identified recommendations to the processes at the home that we have listened to and taken on board.

“Our management and senior management team have made significant progress with regards to the inspection report and we look forward to an open dialogue with our inspectorate on the progress of this. “