Inadequate care home's residents were 'forgotten' and staff didn't wear PPE correctly - despite TWENTY-SEVEN deaths

A care home has been placed in special measures after inspectors found staff failing to wear PPE 'appropriately' - months after more than two dozen of its residents were killed by coronavirus. The Lakes Care Centre was graded as 'inadequate' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), after inspectors found residents could be 'forgotten about' while used incontinence material was seen lying around.

In figures released by the CQC last July, the Dukinfield site had seen the highest number of deaths from coronavirus out of any care home in Tameside, with 27 in the year up to March 2021. But despite the tragedy which had unfolded, inspectors raised a red flag about infection control at The Lakes, with issues about PPE (personal protective equipment) being some of their key concerns.

According to a recently released report, inspectors visited The Lakes unannounced last December 7 and 8, when the care home did not have a manager registered with the CQC. Inspectors spoke to residents, their relatives and members of staff.

READ MORE: 'They're just kids, but it's kids getting hurt': Shock as teenage boy becomes Manchester's latest knife crime victim

The CQC found that residents at The Lakes were 'not safe and at risk of avoidable harm'. This included issues on infection control, with staff 'not always' wearing PPE 'appropriately' - although the majority of staff had completed training about it.

Inspectors also had concerns about the way used equipment was left out at The Lakes before being disposed of. The report said: "For example, we observed used continence products left on people's bedroom floors before being disposed of, and hazardous equipment was not always securely bagged and disposed of in the appropriate bin quickly."

Me