'Unsafe' Longridge Care Home closes its doors
An understaffed care home where the health watchdog said residents were not safe has closed.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) held long-standing concerns about Longridge Care Home, near Penkridge, which was placed in special measures for the second time in two years last month.
Inspectors were so worried they returned for a focused inspection weeks after their original visit, which uncovered a catalogue of failures over safety and the running of the care home.
Read the CQC report here
The findings are believed to have prompted the decision to close the home, on Levedale Road, which led to staff being made redundant. Residents have since been moved to alternative accommodation.
The CQC said “people have been exposed to poor care for an unacceptable amount of time”.
Staffordshire County Council was forced to draft in extra staff to Longridge, such were the concerns over ability over existing workers to cope.
Former floor manager Sarah Brown told the Express & Star the situation was “chaotic” and that “every day was a battle” for carers.
The CQC said it had “received concerns in relation to the management of risks, staffing and support with people’s medicines administration”.
Residents were at risk of being scalded as water was too hot and concerns about the temperature had been ignored, the watchdog’s report said.
Inspectors found medicines records “without clear instructions for staff on how and when to administer medicines”, which meant “people were at risk of not receiving their medicines as prescribed”.
Alan White, Staffordshire County Council’s health boss, said: “We have had concerns about the running of the home for a period of time and despite substantial practical support from the county council, the home has been unable to make the improvements as fast as we would expect.
“We have worked with families to ensure all 15 residents placed by the council have been found alternative homes.”
