A care home has been placed into special measures after falling from ‘good’ to ‘inadequate’ following a 2020 takeover.

Mapleford Nursing Home in Accrington, which provides care for up to 54 older people, younger adults, people with a physical disability, sensory impairment or mental health support needs and people living with dementia, was last rated as ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in November 2020.

But after the company was saved from administration by London’s Krinvest Care Group in July 2020, and following an inspection across three days in January, the service was rated ‘inadequate’ and placed in special measures.

A report published earlier this week read: “At this inspection, we have identified breaches in relation to staffing levels, medicines, the safety and cleanliness of the environment, the management of people's risks, people not receiving person-centred care or being consulted about their care, staff knowledge and skills and the provider's oversight of the service.”

In the key area of ‘safe’, inspectors found there were not always enough staff at the care home, which led to some people not being able to be supported when they needed it, including when using the toilet.

Medicines were not administered safely, and some were being given covertly, with no documentation provided to support this method of administration; and some care plans were not completed properly.

Inspectors also found improvements were needed to fixtures and fittings as there were safety issues which included damaged, inappropriate and stained furniture in place.

Dirty laundry was routinely being stored in bathrooms, there were damaged and fabric chairs in people's bedrooms and communal areas which could not be cleaned effectively, rusty bins, odours in some areas of the home, sticky flooring and damaged worktops in one of the kitchens.

The report stated that some staff and relatives had even raised concerns about the cleanliness of the home saying it was “not good”.

In the area of ‘effective’, inspectors recorded that care plans were not always up to date in terms of people’s needs, and not all staff had been trained to meet residents’ needs.

And in terms of the ‘well-led’ area, it was noted that some audits were not completed regularly and there was a lack of effective oversight by the provider in relation to audits.

The report read: “We received mixed feedback from staff about management; some staff found them approachable, while others did not and felt they were not listened to.

"Some expressed a lack of clarity about the roles and responsibilities of the management team.”

Concluding, the report stated: “We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety.

“We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress.

"We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

“The overall rating for this service is 'inadequate' and the service is therefore in 'special measures'.

“We will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider's registration, we will re-inspect within six months to check for significant improvements.

“If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe and there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures.

"This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service.

“This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions of the registration.”

Krinvest Care Group has been contacted for comment.

In 2018 a review of the care home was carried out by Lancashire Adult Safeguarding Board after a dementia patient who fatally injured a fellow care resident had been deemed too dangerous to go back to a home six months earlier.

Allan Wallace, 86, was left with severe bruising, a swollen nose and bite marks after he was attacked by a 76-year-old at Mapleford, in Huncoat, in October 2015.

His death triggered an Lancashire Adult Safeguarding Board review, which has identified difficulties in securing a mental health bed for the 76-year-old.