An Oldham care home has been told it must improve by the health watchdog after its most recent inspection.

The Care Quality Commission again gave Chadderton Total Care Unit Limited an overall rating of ‘requires improvement’ in a report published on Thursday.

The seven-strong inspection team visited the care home, located on Middlewood Court, in February.

Broken down in the report, the care home, which is home to more than 100 people, was told it must improve in answering the key questions of whether the service is safe, effective, or well-led in the 17-page report published on the CQC website.

The service was rated ‘good’ in the key question of whether it was responsive.

But inspectors said the care home ‘had failed to store and administer medicines safely’, with record keeping not always in place, or completed accurately and consistently.

Quality and safety monitoring records were also ‘not robust or completed consistently,’ according to inspectors.

The home was also said to be in need of refurbishment to address worn and damaged decor, according to the inspection team.

However, the service was praised for its support in encouraging residents to maintain social relationships and take part in activities to promote their well-being, and staff were praised for knowing the importance of providing person-centred care.

The provider was told it still failed to safely manage medicines, continuing to breach health and social care regulations despite being told to improve in a previous report published in 2020.

The report detailed that cupboards containing medicines were not always kept locked, and patients had missed doses of medicines including antibiotics and painkillers, with evidence this had impacted patients.

Record-keeping was also criticised. Inspectors said they could ‘not be assured’ that the required time interval between doses of some medicines had been observed.

The care home was also found to not have important information about agency staff it used, such as whether they had completed training or were competent with specific staff, meaning the home ‘could not be assured’ that these agency staff could provide safe care.

Mixed feedback was received about food quality, with some telling inspectors that the food was of an ‘exceptionally high standard’ but others saying the food often lacked vegetables or had been served cold.

Record keeping related to personal and oral hygiene was also found to be inconsistent.

Leadership at the home was also criticised, with resident and relative meetings inconsistently completed and leadership found to be in breach of good governance regulations.

However, positive feedback from staff, residents, and residents’ relatives was provided to the inspection team, with relatives saying they would recommend the home.

A Chadderton Total Care Unit Limited spokesperson said: “We are disappointed in the outcome of the recent Care Quality Commission inspection, however we have already begun to implement improvements as a result of the inspection and are working closely with Oldham Council and the NHS, who are providing support around the development of an Improvement Plan, which we will be submitting to the CQC.

“We will work to embed improvements quickly and strive to deliver the best quality care to our residents as we have done for over the last 38 years.”