A CARE home has been warned that it must make urgent improvements following an inspection.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited Heathside Residential Home on Plank Lane, Leigh, on July 2 and found that the service was failing to meet the national standards.

The CQC has taken enforcement action and warned Wigan Council, which runs the home, that it must immediately improve its management of medicines at the care home as “the service was failing to protect people against the risks associated with poor medicines management”.

The report reads: “Appropriate arrangements were in place for recording medicines but these arrangements were not always followed. Medicines were not always ‘booked in’ on people’s charts and we saw two ‘gaps’ in administration records.

“When details of a person’s medicines had to be written on their chart by a team leader the information was not checked and signed by a second person.

“This meant there was a greater risk of an error occurring and medicines being given incorrectly.”

The report added: “During our inspection of the home we found the environment to be generally clean, hygienic and well maintained.”

But that “in the majority of care files looked at, documentation had not been completed accurately or was incomplete”.

The CQC will inspect the home again unannounced to determine whether the appropriate action has been taken.

Jo Willmott, assistant director for provider management and market development at Wigan Council, said: “I’d like to reassure the families of people cared for at Heathside Residential Home that we are working flat out to drive up standards.

“We’re determined to improve care at the home and I believe we’ve already made good progress.

“We were already aware of and working hard to correct the areas highlighted by CQC during their assessment. Significant changes aimed at improving the quality of care have been introduced.

“Staff who administer medicine have received additional training.”