A CARE home has been placed in special measures in a dramatic fall from its previous rating of ‘good’.

Care Quality Commission inspectors downgraded Gainsborough House by two grades to ‘inadequate’ after visiting the home in March.

A failure to follow coronavirus infection prevention control standards is among the reasons why, according to a report published this month.

Other concerns raised include the management of risk and medicines, record keeping, and the governance of the care facility.

The CQC visited the home after receiving concerns in relation to an injury sustained through moving and handling, infection control, care delivery and governance.

It was the commission’s first visit to the Gainsborough Road-based home since March 2018, when inspectors rated it ‘good’.

In their latest report, inspectors said: “Staff did not have sufficient guidance to provide safe and appropriate care. Medication management was unsafe and placed people at risk of avoidable harm.

“Infection control standards were not being followed to protect people from the risk of infection such as Covid-19.

“We identified that a lack of cohesive working and poor communication within the home had led to risks not being recognised and acted on.

“Some audits of the service were ineffective, and in some cases, not carried out. Record keeping in relation to people's ongoing care needs was not always properly maintained.”

Inspectors did report that accidents and incidents were kept in order, and there was evidence of monthly scrutiny of incidents and falls looking for patterns.

They also said that there was enough staff on duty to support people, and these staff members were friendly and treated people kindly.

This was backed up by relatives of residents, who felt their loved ones were well looked after.

The CQC has requested an action plan for home to understand what it will do to improve the standards of quality and safety.

It will also work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress and will undertake a further inspection in due course.

Paul Fletcher, commercial and business director at of London and Manchester Healthcare, which runs the home, said that action will be taken to address the shortfalls raised.

He said: “Gainsborough House has provided care for older people in the Warrington area for the last 10 years and has had a CQC rating of ‘good’ since it opened.

“We were extremely disappointed to hear the result of the recent CQC inspection, which highlighted that standards had dropped in two of the five domains on which CQC bases its judgement.

“We are 100 per cent committed to ensuring that Gainsborough House returns to its previous record of ‘good’ in all five CQC domains.

“We are working with all the agencies involved to ensure that the necessary improvements are made, and we have also introduced a new management team to drive this forward.”