Watchdog report condemns care home

Oxford Grange Care Home on Oxford Road, Dewsbury, was rated “inadequate” in all five of the key areas investigated by the Care Quality Commission, which said the service was not safe, effective, caring, responsive or well-led.

Debbie Westhead, the CQC’s deputy chief inspector of adult social care for the north, said: “People are entitled to services which provide safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care and Northfields Care Limited has failed the residents of Oxford Grange.

“We found many concerns around people’s care and welfare generally and people living at the home were at risk of receiving inappropriate or unsafe care.

“It is clear that the provider, Northfields Care Homes Limited, did not have a system to monitor the quality of the service and take the required action. For this reason we had no option but to remove the location from their registration.”

The report, published this week, said staff missed serious safety concerns, dealt with residents incorrectly and failed to keep accurate records.

The home was closed down last month and all residents were moved to other accommodation.

This week the CQC removed Oxford Grange from the registration of Northfields Care Homes, which means they will no long be able to operate from that location.

The watchdog will complete inspections of the other two homes run by Northfields Care Homes in Dewsbury, Sunnyside Care Home on Oxford Road and West House Care Home on Quarry Road.

A CQC spokeswoman said both were due inspections before the closure of Oxford Grange but inspectors would look to check if there were similar problems.

Northfields Care Homes declined to provide a comment.

Visit www.cqc.org.uk to read the full report.