A CARE home in Padgate has been placed into special measures after staff were accused of using 'aggressive and threatening behaviour' towards residents.

Heath Lodge Care Home has been placed into special measures after being rated as inadequate by the Care Quality Commission.

The Green Lane home, which houses eight adults with learning disabilities, was found to have committed seven breaches of health and social care regulations during an unannounced inspection in January.

Inspectors discovered that, two days prior to the CQC's visit, a member of staff had allegedly used 'aggressive and threatening behaviour' towards a service user - with another employee having to intervene.

But the home's manager had instructed a whistleblower not to tell the inspector about the incident, which is currently subject to an ongoing investigation by Warrington Borough Council.

The CQC found that members of staff were 'fearful of losing their jobs' if they reported incidents of abuse, with examples found of the CQC and police not being notified of assaults between service users.

On another occasion, a resident had returned from a visit to their family unsupervised and became lost - resulting in the police being called to search for them.

Some areas of the home required cleaning, with one ensuite described as being 'malodorous' and parts of the room stained or mouldy.

Some medicine supplies had run out, with one resident having regularly missed doses of pain-relieving medication.

A spokesman for Potens, which runs Heath Lodge, said: "Potens strives to meet the highest standards at all times.

“The organisation’s policies and procedures, whilst successful across the majority of our locations, are being re-embedded into this service.

“Since the date of the CQC’s visit, immediate and decisive action was implemented at Heath Lodge to make improvements and to address the concerns raised in relation to the essential standards.

“Potens understands that there is never a time for complacency and is committed to the ongoing scrutiny and review of this service to ensure the procedures designed and implemented to provide safe support are maintained.”