THE Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told a care home in Low Etherley, near Bishop Auckland, that it must make improvements or face further action.

Inspectors carried out an unannounced inspection at Etherley Lodge in October, where they found that the home, which cares and accommodates up to 38 people, was failing to provide care which was safe, effective, caring, responsive or well led.

The home was rated as ‘Inadequate’ overall under CQC’s new programme of inspections.

The report identified several areas for improvement, including the fact that the home did not have suitable arrangements in place for obtaining the consent of people to the care and treatment provided for them.

It also reported that people were not protected from the risk of infection because people were not cared for in a clean, hygienic environment while information provided by external healthcare professionals had not been added to individual care plans.

The report also stated that staff were not always provided with sufficient training and supervision checks carried out on staff had not been fully completed before they started to work there.

It also found that there were no mechanisms in place to gather the views of people living at the home, or those of their relatives, while residents were not protected from the risk of inadequate nutrition.

Following the inspection CQC were also made aware that the provider had failed to formally notify them of changes to their registration.

Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North, said: “People are entitled to services which provide safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care.

“At our recent inspection of Etherley Lodge we identified serious concerns in a number of areas and we have told the provider that they must take action to resolve these issues as a priority.

“We are liaising closely with Durham County Council and NHS Commissioners to safeguard the wellbeing of everyone who lives at the home and we continue to monitor this provider very carefully to check that the required improvements are made."

Ms Westhead said inspectors would return to the home to check improvements had been made and would be taking further action if they have not.

Tim Irving, proprietor of the home, said: “In line with our strategic action plan we have been working very hard in conjunction with the appropriate bodies to rectify the failings identified by the CQC in October 2014 and to this extent many improvements have already been made and this is to continue.”