OAPs' home is told it must improve - again

OAKLANDS Rest Home, Shaw Road, Royton

A ROYTON care home has been told it requires improvement for the second time running.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) gave Oaklands Rest Home the same rating following an inspection in June 2015.

Inspectors have placed the Shaw Road home in special measures after it was told it was inadequate in the well-led category in two consecutive visits.

Safety and responsiveness were said to require improvement while care was rated as good.

Management said improvements have been made since the latest visit and some concerns were dealt with on the day of the inspection in December 2016.

The CQC report said: "Although we found improvements in some areas, some issues we identified at the last inspection had not been addressed.

"We identified five breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 over infection prevention and control, maintenance, waste disposal and unsafe storage, the provision of activities, failure to display the CQC inspection ratings, and lack of governance."

The home provider, Oaklands Rest Home Ltd, had failed to notify the CQC they had entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) to pay their creditors over a fixed period. The CVA enables an insolvent limited company to continue trading.

The home's directors said this was due to the underfunded care sector. They said they were "successfully dealing with the CVA."

CQC inspectors said: "The service was not consistently safe. Appropriate arrangements were not in place for the safe disposal of hazardous waste.

"Two storage rooms containing equipment that could cause injury were not locked. This had been identified previously but no action had been taken."

They also found contamination risks where bins were not foot-operated. However the home has now purchased pedal bins and begun working with an approved waste disposal company.

Meaningful activities were said to be lacking but, in efforts to improve, Oaklands has bought a new karaoke system, memory boxes and craft materials.

Inspectors said they observed kind and caring staff as well as sufficient numbers of staff to care for residents.

Oaklands home manager Lisa Cancelliere said: "The staff and management work hard to provide a safe and caring environment. They go above and beyond.

"The CQC did a follow-up check and saw that we had made improvements.

"Hopefully everything will have been addressed by the time of the next inspection."

The directors of Oaklands issued the following statement: "The directors are very happy with the quality of the care at Oaklands. As you are aware the care sector has been underfunded for a number of years. Despite this we are successfully dealing with the CVA."