A WIRRAL nursing home has been described as a “waiting room to die” by residents in a watchdog report slamming it as “inadequate”.

Care workers at Ryecroft Private Residential Care Home in Meols were forced to wash residents in their bedrooms with a bowl of water because there were no baths or showers.

As well as being short-staffed and unclean, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found the 14-bed home on Kings Avenue to be stocked with out-of-date food.

The home was also slammed after bosses had “not responded appropriately” to allegations of abuse on three occasions.

Home operators Ryecroft Care Ltd could now face legal action following the damming report.

The home was previously found to be in breach of its legal requirements when it was last inspected in December 2014.

And during the visit in March, the home was without a registered manager – one such legal requirement.

Prior to their visit earlier this year, Wirral Council had alerted the CQC to concerns about the safety of the premises and its equipment.

Their concerns were found to be warranted during the CQC’s visit with electrical faults throughout the home. Heating systems, emergency pull cords and bath hoists were all faulty.

In a report published following the inspection, the CQC said: “The cleanliness of the home was poor. The kitchen and its facilities were dirty, and some food in the kitchen had either been opened but not dated or was out of date. This meant there was a risk it was unsafe to use.”

A referral was made to Environmental Health following the visit.

Staff told the CQC they did not feel supported by the providers and said they had not been sufficiently trained and lacked the safety equipment to do their job.

Medication was on show for visitors to the home to see and residents told the CQC there were no social activities provided for them.

One person told the watchdog: “There is nothing to do and nowhere to go. It’s a waiting room to die.”

Some people spent most of the time in their rooms or sat silently in the communal lounge all day.

The Globe tried to contact Ryecroft for comment but the number listed appears to now be invalid.