Battle care home '˜not meeting legal requirements' says inspector

A report relating to Green Hill Care Home, in Station Road, Battle – owned by Rooks Care – rated the home’s safety and leadership as inadequate as well as requiring improvement in its care and responsiveness.

The home’s effectiveness was rated as good in the report released on Saturday.

An inspector from the CQC visited the home unannounced on November 17, 2017, to ‘follow up on concerns raised by whistle-blowers that people were at risk from unsafe premises and unsafe care and treatment’, according to the CQC.

The report said: “This inspection found people were placed at risk from unsafe premises because fire doors were not all working consistently and systems to support staff in managing an emergency evacuation were either incorrect or not available.

“The provider had also failed to inform CQC of on-going issues with fire safety which had the potential to impact on the safety of both staff and people at Green Hill Care Home.”

The CQC said the care home – which accommodates people who require nursing or personal care – has been inspected seven times since November 2014 where ‘continued breaches of regulation’ have been found and was placed into special measures following a July 2015 inspection.

In January 2016, the care home was placed into administration and a consultancy agency was brought in to run the service.

Concluding November’s report, the CQC said: “Green Hill Care Home was not safe and was not meeting the legal requirement that was previously in breach.”

Representatives form Green Hill Care Home and Rooks Care have been contacted for comment.