AN ALTRINCHAM care home has been put in special measures after being rated as ‘inadequate’ by inspectors.

Woodend Care Home on Bradgate Road was visited by Care Quality Commission inspector in December and the report has only been released last week.

The facility provides care to 72 younger and older adults and people living with dementia but the service can support up to 78 people.

In the report, it said that on a previous visit the home was rated as ‘requires improvement’ for safety of users but it has since ‘deteriorated to inadequate’.

The inspectors said: “Medicines were not always managed safely. The unsafe management of medicines had been highlighted in the last four inspections.”

Inspectors also said ‘medicines were not managed safely which put people at risk of harm and some people missed some doses of their prescribed medicines as they were out of stock’.

There were also fears about oral health at the home: “There was a lack of support with oral care and some people did not have oral care plans in place. We could not be assured every person in the home was receiving appropriate support with oral hygiene.”

The service was also rated as being ‘inadequate’ in the well-led category - and it had deteriorated from ‘requires improvement’.

It added: “This meant there were widespread and significant shortfalls in service leadership. Leaders and the culture they created did not assure the delivery of high-quality care.’

Ian Southerland, Managing Director for the care home, said: “We always aim to provide the highest quality care, but realise we’ve fallen short in this instance and sincerely apologise for this.

“We’ve already started to implement a wide-reaching improvement plan, which includes improved training and new senior management. We’re also planning to start refurbishing the whole home later this year. With these changes in place, we’re confident we’ll make lasting improvements.”

Bosses say they have improved training at the home, with a particular focus on areas including medicines, oral health and record keeping

They also say they have improved their processes for managing medicines and are working closely with local GP practices and the clinical commissioning group.