Gorton Parks Care Home

Updated 13 January 2025

Date of Assessment: 13 February to 5 March 2025. The service is a care home providing nursing and personal care to 90 adults living with dementia and physical disabilities. The assessment was planned to check the provider was meeting the requirements of the warning notice served at the last assessment. The provider had failed to improve the home. We found multiple concerns relating to the safety of the internal and external environment. Infection control was not well managed. There had been an increase in infectious illnesses. Risks to people’s skin integrity and swallowing ability were not appropriately monitored. Medicines were not safely managed. Staffing levels were insufficient to meet the needs of people living at the home. People were not supported to receive a healthy and nutritious diet. There had been increases in weight loss and the provider was not acting promptly to reduce this risk. There was a failure to support people with effective oral hygiene. Staff failed to interact with people in a dignified and meaningful way. Care was not person-centred, and staff did not have the time to spend with people. Governance processes were ineffective. The provider had failed to highlight where improvements were urgently required. We found 5 breaches of the legal regulations relating to person-centred care, safe care and treatment, nutrition and hydration, good governance and staffing. In instances where CQC have decided to take civil or criminal enforcement action against a provider, we will publish this information on our website after any representations and/ or appeals have been concluded. This service is being placed in special measures. The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we user our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.

Updated 13 January 2025

People told us they liked the staff but there were not enough staff on duty to meet their needs. A relative told us, “They (staff) don’t spend too much time with [Name]. They never get in contact with me on the phone or ring to update me. Some staff are consistent but there has been a turnover lately.” We received many comments about staff interactions with people. Comments included, “[Name] never gets any one-to-one time in doing things such as puzzles or drawing. The staff could interact with residents more”; “Some carers are good, some are not. Half of the carers shouldn’t be in that job. I see them sitting on their phones, if it was me, I would go and sit with one of the residents instead” and “The staff are pleasant but not that engaged.”

People and relatives could not recall being asked for feedback on the home, but most said they would raise concerns directly with staff. Several relatives told us they had raised concerns about weight loss and missing personal items. A relative told us, “Most staff are caring but they could do more in encouraging people to eat. [Name] lost a lot of weight whilst he was there, and I don’t think they do enough to get some residents to eat. The same goes for personal hygiene really. [Name] smelled of (urine) sometimes when I’d visit, and they would be sat in the same clothes from a couple of days. I’ve also found [Name] wearing other people’s clothes.

People and families raised several concerns about the cleanliness and condition of the environment.