Penwortham care home told to make urgent improvements after inspection

Priory Park Care Home in Priory Crescent could be closed down by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) if action is not taken to improve standards.

Details of an unannounced inspection were released this week, which showed the service to be unsafe, not effective, not always caring, not always responsive and not well-led.

Inspectors noted that “people’s safety had been compromised due to lack of adequate numbers of staff to support them with their care needs. We found a significant number of incidents of people being left unsupervised and causing harm to each other. Risks to receiving care were poorly managed and planned for. People were not always offered their medicines in a safe manner and medicines administration exposed them to risks.”

The report also raises concerns that:

- People were not always monitored following a fall or incident

- Staff had not always sought consent before delivering care

- Staff did not always offer people pain relief medicines

- There was poor storage and management of medicines

- One person at risk of choking had been left eating unattended

- People were not provided with meaningful activities to occupy them

In relation to administration of medicine, inspectors noted that the provider, Four Seasons Healthcare, “responded immediately after inspection” and “positive and warm relationships” between staff and residents were noted.

Four Seasons did not respond to a request for a comment.