care home closed after inspectors deem it 'dirty and unsafe'

[annie]

A care home in Surrey has been shut down after inspectors found residents were "at significant risk of harm".

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it ordered the immediate closure of Merok Park Nursing Home after an inspection found it was dirty and unsafe, with an "overpowering" smell of urine.

The home's 26 residents were moved following the closure on Tuesday.

No-one at the home, in Banstead, was available for comment.

Adrian Hughes, chief inspector of adult social care in the south, said enforcement action was not taken lightly because of the impact on residents.

He said: "We made the providers... aware of our concerns some time ago, but action has not been taken to maintain the safety and welfare of people'Unable to get downstairs'

Inspections on 28 November and 1 December found residents not receiving help to eat and being placed in inappropriate beds, putting them at a high risk of pressure sores, he said.

The smell of urine on the first day of the inspection was overpowering, Mr Hughes added.

Staff were working up to 60 hours a week and some had not had criminal record checks, the CQC said.

It said inspectors also found a broken lift had left some residents unable to get downstairs for weeks.

"Taking any decision which causes people to leave their homes is always difficult at any time of year - but it is our view, shared by other agencies, that it was no longer safe for people to remain in Merok Park," Mr Hughes said.

According to the CQC website, Soondressen Cooppen and his wife Maleenee run Merok Park and Faygate House care home in Sutton, south London.

'Staff praised'

Details from the CQC say Merok Park can accommodate up to 29 people and the majority of residents, some of which have dementia, are elderly.

The home passed an inspection in January carried out after the regulator raised "concerns" during a visit in September last year.

That inspection found residents were "generally satisfied" and praised staff.

But it said the home "did not have suitable arrangements in place for obtaining consent for people who lacked capacity" and "had not always taken steps to provide care in a home that was adequately maintained in all areas".

Inspectors have removed Merok Park's registration, which means it can no longer legally operate.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-30409296

[maureenho]

It's frightening how many care/nursing homes are failing standards and the amount employed not having had CRB checks.

[Rosalind]

It is awful that people think they can run a nursing home in this way.

[Misspears]

It is disgusting it makes my blood boil when I read about these care homes

[wendy]

I think this must be the one I put in the carers newspaper today
http://thecarersnewspaper.co.uk/#
It said the residents were moved in their night clothes.