Coppull care home where residents were put at risk of sharp tools, toxic chemicals and medicine failures is slammed by care watchdogs in latest report

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out an unexpected visit to Aarondale Care Home in Sunny Brook, off Chapel Lane in March and their findings were published this week.

>>>Read the full report here

The home, which is permitted to provide personal care for up to 48 older people including those living with dementia, was found to be failing in all key areas inspected including being safe and well-led.

Key issues highlighted include:

• People were at risk of eating potentially contaminated food. The report states: "Our inspection of the kitchen found some foods, including soft cheeses, were out of date. Foods that had been opened were not dated, meaning they were potentially unsafe to consume."

Drinks were also not readily available to people and the chef lacked training and skills in how to meet people's nutritional needs.

• The premises were not safe. Inspectors said: "We found a can of vinyl adhesive which was labelled as highly flammable left in a communal toilet. The door to the maintenance room was left propped open for a prolonged period of time, which placed people at risk of harm from sharp tools and toxic chemicals."

They also found that the radiator in one person's bedroom was "excessively hot to the touch" and noted: "some of areas of the service appeared worn and tired and required repainting. We saw fire exits which were partially blocked."

•Inspectors said they "could not be assured that cleaning records were an accurate reflection of practices" after an afternoon toliet check had been completed in the morning.

• People's dignity was not always respected and people did not always receive their own clothes to wear.

• The service did not engage people in planning their end of life care. The inspectors said: "There was a risk that people may not receive the support they required to experience a comfortable and dignified death."

No evidence people had been harmed

While the inspectors highlighted risks to health, they found no evidence that people had been harmed.

It was also noted that "staff were kind and tactile", "people felt the care provided by staff was safe", there were enough staff on duty to meet people's needs and recruitment of new staff was safe.

It is the first time the home has been inspected while under current management. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was Good, published on August 13, 2019.

What next?

The CQC have offered recommendations to the home's management and will re-inspect within six months to check for significant improvement.

The body said: “If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe, and there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures.

"This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the registration."

The home is run by New Excel Homes Ltd. The company has been contacted for a comment.