A CARE home in New Ferry remains in special measures for its “inadequate” safety rating.

According to a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report, residents at Derwent Lodge Nursing Home have been found as “not safe” and “at risk of avoidable harm”.

The care home was previously placed into special measures after it was rated as “inadequate” for being safe and well-led after an inspection in 2021.

At the latest inspection the overall rating had changed to “requires improvement” but remained “inadequate” for safety.

The report states: “The service will remain in special measures due to its inadequate rating in the ‘safe’ domain.

“This means 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.”

In the latest report, the management of medication was deemed “unsafe” and was found to breach Regulation 12 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008.

During the latest inspection in March 2022, “not enough improvement” had been made and the provider “remained in breach of Regulation 12”.

Inspectors found that some medicines including insulin could not be accounted for and they were unable to find a syringe driver that was needed to prescribe end of life medicine.

They also found that some medicines could not be properly accounted for including stocks of insulin, inhalers and creams meaning it was difficult to tell if these medicines had been given correctly.

The report states: “At the last inspection serious concerns were identified with regards to the management of risk, care planning, the delivery of care, the management of medicines and governance.

“At this inspection, we found that while some improvements had been made, further action needed to be taken to make sure the service was safe and well led.

“People were not safe. At the last inspection visit, we identified concerns in relation to medicines management.

“The safety of medication management had improved at this inspection, but there were still a number of concerns relating to medicines that had not been properly addressed.”

A spokesperson from SureCare Group said: “The overall rating has improved to “Requires Improvement” since the last report.

“We are currently working with the regulator, CQC, to agree an action plan to improve situation in the ‘Safe’ category.”