A CARE home in Childer Thornton has been deemed "not safe" by inspectors after it was rated inadequate.

Thornton House Residential Home on Chester Road, Ellesmere Port was rated inadequate in all five areas after unannounced inspections by the CQC took place over four days between March 14 and March 20.

The home, run by GN Care Homes Limited, is a residential care home that was providing personal care to 22 older people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 22 people in one adapted building. People were living with age-related conditions, including dementia.

What did the report say?

The report, which was published on Wednesday, May 10 confirmed that the inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about safeguarding incidents that had not been reported.

At the time of the inspection, there was a registered manager in post. The registered manager resigned and left the service with immediate effect following the inspection.

Findings from the report said that "systems to protect people from the risk of abuse or neglect were in place but had not been followed" and "people had come to harm and prompt and appropriate action had not been taken to safeguard people."

It adds: "On day one of our inspection we identified a first-floor window did not have a restrictor in place."

The report went on to say that "the back garden grassed areas and paths were inaccessible to people due to a very large number of dog faeces which had not been appropriately removed" which was "immediately addressed by the provider".

Other issues raised in the report said that there were "insufficient numbers of suitably trained and competent staff employed to meet the needs of the people supported" and "people who chose to stay in their bedrooms did not all have access to a jug of fresh water or juice".

There were also concerns about the staff at the home, who "spoke about people in derogatory terms" and "the language used in some people's care plans and records to be disrespectful and undignified".

Relatives with loved ones at Thornton House also had mixed opinions, with one saying "I visit regularly and [Name] loves it here" and one saying "something is wrong every time we take [Name] out. [Name] was wearing pyjama bottoms one time I collected them, another time they were not wearing a jumper and it was freezing outside."

'We are committed to turning this home around'

Paul Gill, the RI (Responsible Individual) for Thornton House Residential Home, said: "Whilst we appreciate it is not the best news or the outcome we expected we are committed to turning the home around.

"Unfortunately, our trust was put into a manager to run the service. The processes that ourselves and Cheshire West and Chester council had implemented for the manager were not followed or adhered to.

"We are committed to turning this home around and have completed around 80% of our action plan to the council and CQC. We provide both bodies with weekly progress reports and show and record our progress. We are here to provide a good, caring and respectful service for residents living with dementia.

"Our determination is to get everything right and keep the progression going. We as a care provider have 26 carers to look after and 26 of the carers' families. More importantly we have 22 elderly residents to look after and this spurs us on to get things right.

"We are working closely with CWAC and CQC to make sure the home/staff and providers are hitting our own internal targets. Both CWAC and CQC are encouraged with the speed and progress we are making."