A care home in Preston has been rated as ‘requires improvement’ after the Care Quality Commission identified issues with safety and how well led the service is.

Greenways Rest Home is a residential care home that provides personal care for up to 30 elderly people and people living with dementia.

The home, located on Preston Road, Bamber Bridge, was scrutinised on the staff’ infection prevention and control measures in terms of safety, as well as the inspection being partly prompted when the CQC was notified that a person using the service was harmed.

As a result of the incident, the inspection looked at potential concerns and risks about the security of the building.

The report noted that the safety was still rated as ‘requires improvement’ as, even after a ‘serious incident’, they found that exits from the property were not “sufficiently secured” before or after the incident. This meant that “any risk of avoidable harm was not minimised.”

Also in terms of safety and security of the building, the care home still needs to put in measures to become compliant with fire safety.

The inspectors also found that one person needed covert medicines, meaning the medication had to be hidden in their food or drink without them knowing. However, this had not been improved from the last inspection and the person was refusing their medicines regularly.

Two people also needed thickeners added to their drinks, to reduce the risk of choking, but staff failed to record how much was being added to drinks so the inspectors could not be sure people were receiving it as prescribed.

The report states: “Although we found no evidence of harm, systems to manage medicines safely were not effective. This placed people at risk of harm. This was a breach of regulation 12 (1) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.”

In terms of the ‘serious incident’, the inspectors found that the registered manager and nominated individual had not followed the duty of candour guidance.

The intention of the duty of candour legislation is to ensure that providers are open and transparent with people who use services. This means that staff must inform people about the incident, providing reasonable support, honest information, and an apology when things go wrong.

However, the inspectors added: “This was a sensitive situation and was addressed following feedback.”

More generally, relatives told the inspectors that the registered manager and staff kept them informed on any concerns. One relative said: “Staff inform me of any changes; I cannot fault the communication.”

Despite the ‘requires improvement’ rating, residents generally enjoyed living at the home and relatives spoke positively about the staff.

Greenways Rest Home has been approached for a comment.