A CARE home in Prestwich remains in "special measures" after the health care watchdog handed it a third "inadequate" rating this month.

Nazareth House on Scholes Lane has been in "special measures" since June 2021 after it was told to make significant improvements by regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

After inspections in February and March this year the care home was given another overall rating of "inadequate" after inspectors found residents "continued to be at risk of harm".

Nazareth House provides nursing and personal care for adults over 65, and at the time of the inspection it supported 38 people.

In the latest inspection, the CQC rated the service for three areas, giving an "inadequate" rating for both safety and quality of leadership, and a judegment of "requires improvement" for responsiveness.

In a report, the CQC said: “Medicines were not always managed safely.

“Health care professionals told us they had concerns about the safe management of medicines and had tried to work with staff in the service to improve safety but felt that medicines were still not managed safely.

“Staff had not taken any professional advice to check if some people with swallowing difficulties needed to have their medicines in an easier to swallow formulation, placing them at risk of choking.”

The CQC also found "significant and widespread shortfalls in service leadership’ which ‘did not assure the delivery of high-quality care".

The report said: “This is the fifth consecutive inspection where breaches of regulation have been identified in relation to the safe management of medicines, good governance and maintaining up to date records

“Following the last inspection, the provider increased their presence at the service to support the manager and help drive improvement.

"The support has been ineffective in some areas.

“Medication audits, completed by the management team, had continued to fail to identify concerns relating to medication.

"For example, we found records relating to the administration of creams lacked sufficient detail to guide staff on where they should be applied and how frequently.”

Following its inspection, the CQC will keep the service under review and if it does not propose to cancel the service’s registration it will return within six months to check for improvements.

A spokesperson for the Nazareth Care Charitable Trust said: "Nazareth Care takes this latest report by the CQC very seriously and can only apologize to residents and their families for the failings identified in the inspection. 

"Our staff are working hard to implement the recommended changes, especially in relation to the safety of our residents, to make sure we provide the highest quality of person-centred care.

"We continue to work closely with the local authority and we are setting up a new medical ordering system in conjunction with the Clinical commissioning Group.

"We are redoubling our efforts to bring the service up to the standards our residents have a right to expect."