SAFETY at a residential home has been rated as ‘inadequate’, according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

A report found that safety standards at The Victoria Residential Home in Burnley have slipped even further since its previous inspection in 2015.

Two years ago, safety at the facility was rated ‘requires improvement’, but safety at the Thursby Road home has now been branded ‘inadequate’ following a recent CQC inspection.

Inspectors found there were “not enough care staff” deployed on the ground floor in order to meet people’s needs in a timely manner.

While the CQC also found people were not always adequately protected against the risks associated with unsafe management of medicines.

Other separate shortfalls included not all equipment and areas of the home had a satisfactory level of cleanliness while inspectors also observed that people had mixed views on the quality of the food.

The residential home provides personal care and accommodation for up to 48 people, with the ground floor of the facility catering for elderly people and the first floor providing care for residents living with Dementia.

Overall, the care home was given a ‘requires improvement’ rating by inspectors.

A CQC report reads: “The service was not safe.

“Whilst people felt safe in the home, there were not enough care staff deployed on the ground floor in order to meet people’s needs in a timely manner.

“Not all equipment and areas of the home had a satisfactory level of cleanliness.

“People were not adequately protected against the risks associated with the unsafe management of medicines.”

But Tony McLean, Executive Chairman of Cumbric Care, which runs the care home, said: “We challenge some aspects of the report.

“Where medicines are concerned, we accept there has been a requirement for more training around medicine safety.

“Some improvements have been made but others still need to be done.

“While we feel staffing levels are safe and appropriate on the ground floor of the home, but we’ve revised them in light of the CQC comments and increased the number of staff for the ground floor.

“Also, inspectors told us that staffing levels on the first floor were adequate.”