A CARE home in Hoylake has been placed into special measures after it received an inadequate rating in its latest inspection.

Anchorage Nursing Home, on Queens Rd in Hoylake, received an overall rating of "inadequate", the lowest possible rating by the Quality Care Commission (CQC).

The care home was inspected on March 29 and 31 with the report published on July 7 putting it into "special measures" meaning the service is kept under review and, if CQC do not propose to cancel the provider's registration, they will re-inspect within six months to check for significant improvements.

The CQC’s report highlights that the key areas of Safety, Effectiveness and Well-Led were "inadequate" and Caring and Responsive "requires improvement".

Anchorage Nursing Home is a 'care home' providing accommodation, nursing and personal care for up to 40 older people; some of whom lived with dementia. At the time of the inspection, 32 people were living at the home.

At the time ofther inspection there was a manager in post but they were not registered with the Care Quality Commission. The manager left during the inspection process.

Issues raised included "failings by the provider in the way the service was led and managed", "systems in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service were inadequate" and "they failed to identify and mitigate risk and bring about improvements to the service people received".

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It also said: "Records used to monitor, and review people's care had not been fully completed and kept up to date. We found examples where sections of care plans and other care records had not been updated to reflect changes in people's needs.

"People did not always receive their medicines in line with the prescribers' instructions. Risks to people were not always managed and learning from accidents and incidents had not identified themes.

"Staff had not received all the training they needed to support people safely or appropriate support from the provider."

The report stated: "Parts of the premises and equipment were unclean and unhygienic increasing the risk of the spread of infection" and "Parts of the premises were in need of repair and redecoration, including marked walls and ceilings, damaged flooring and woodwork."

It was also highlighted that "People's end of life wishes were not always included within their care plans".

CQC took enforcement action by imposing a warning notice to the care home.

'We are disappointed with the findings within the report'

Bernie Suresparan, chief executive officer at We Care Group ,said: "When We Care Group took ownership of The Anchorage Nursing Home in April 2022 we knew there was a lot of investment needed to develop and improve the home and raise standards of care.

"At the time of the inspection we were already working to implement improvements, including the refurbishment of the home which has now been completed.

"We are disappointed with the findings within the report, which we take very seriously. We would like to apologise to residents, family members and the local community, that the standards in the home are not yet at the level expected within the We Care Group.

"We would like to reassure relatives, residents and the community that since the inspection we have put a more robust action plan in place, to make the necessary improvements identified in the report, introduced new systems and have appointed an interim manager. We have already made significant progress on rectifying many of the concerns identified and are confident that the home will soon be back to the good standard we expect within our homes. We have also completed a refurbishment programme to ensure a better environment for residents living in the home."