AN Accrington care home has been told to improve the way it handles vulnerable residents.

Speciality Care (Addison Court) Ltd, in Addison Street, specialises in caring for up to 50 old age residents and patients with dementia, with costs from £582 per week.

In a recent inspection by the Care Quality Commission, the home was deemed to have failed in three out of five key Government standards.

Hyndburn Council leader Miles Parkinson said the findings were a “major concern”, and called for urgent action.

The inspector highlighted problems, including:

  • People’s dignity was not always respected
  • A dementia patient choked after being attended to by a poorly-trained nurse
  • A dementia patient was left walking around in her nightdress until late morning
  • Staffing levels were insufficient

Regarding care standards, the inspector noted: “People who were able to express an opinion told us they were satisfied with the care provided at Addison Court.

“However, we found that care was not always delivered by properly-trained care workers on the dementia unit, which meant people were at risk of receiving unsafe care.”

He added: “Some members of staff expressed concerns about a recent incident involving a care worker on her first shift on the dementia unit. This care worker had been told to carry out a task for which she had not been trained, or given any relevant information about the person using this service. This had resulted in the person ‘choking’.

“Although this person suffered no serious harm, this incident was not recorded, and it was not clear whether action had been taken to prevent this happening again.”

It was noted that patients’ views were not always taken into account, staffing levels on the dementia unit were “insufficient to fully meet the care needs of people using the service”, and staff absence and training were a problem.

The care home was praised for properly managing medicines, and regularly monitoring the quality of service provided.

Coun Parkinson said: “It’s a major concern when problems like these are highlighted. Fam-ilies put loved ones into care homes, with the expectation that standards are applied. If the care home is not doing its job properly, then the owners need to take action as quickly as possible.”

A spokesperson for the home said: “This relates to an inspection in July. We welcome all constructive feedback, and also note the positive comments from the inspectors, residents, and relatives.

“All the matters raised by the regulator are being addressed, and we are confident of the quality of care at the home.”

The Commission has confirmed that an action plan has been received from the home, and a follow-up inspection is planned.