People at 'risk of harm' at failing Wirral care home

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected Newhaven, a care home on Sunningdale Road in Wallasey, Wirral in December 2024. As a result of their findings, the CQC have now rated the home inadequate and said it had “taken action to protect people.”

The home, previously rated good, is run by Danny So and provides care for up to 16 people with learning disabilities. The LDRS has approached the home for a response.

The inspection was carried out after concerns were raised with the CQC around the safety and quality of care in the home. Inspectors found four breaches of regulations in relation to providing safe care and treatment, staffing, monitoring and assessing risk, and how well the home was being managed and issued the home with a warning notice.

Inspectors found unsafe management of medicines, “poor infection control with no cleaning schedules or infection risk assessments in place,” and out of date care plans. The CQC said: “Several mattresses required deep cleaning, although staff addressed this immediately after it was raised.”

Inspectors also found “medicines which needed refrigeration were left out, open medicines were not dated or used within expiry timeframes, and audits and risk assessments were not in place” and “people weren’t always at the centre of their care and treatment options or involved in decision making.” However it was found “staff treated people with kindness and compassion.”

Due to quality of care concerns, new placements by people under Wirral Council’s care were suspended on January 17. This information can be found on the local authority’s Wirral Infobank website.

Karen Knapton, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said: “It was disappointing to find a deterioration in the level of care being provided. Poor leadership had led to shortfalls in the quality of care, placing people at risk of harm.

“During the inspection, we found breaches of regulations in relation to providing safe care and treatment, management oversight of the home, managing risks, and staffing. Leaders didn’t always investigate or report incidents appropriately and hadn’t created a culture where staff could learn from incidents to try and prevent them from happening again.

“Leaders hadn’t always identified or addressed safety risks at the home. Risk assessments weren’t in place across several areas of the home, including for individual residents. They also hadn’t addressed environmental risks. For example, equipment used to support people hadn’t been serviced, legionella infection risks weren’t addressed, and fire safety and carbon monoxide alarms tests hadn’t been recorded.

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“Leaders also hadn’t ensured staff received the right supervision, training and support to provide safe care. They weren’t regularly assessing staff competency or reviewing training compliance. This included training to protect people from abuse and in the individual medical conditions of the people they cared for.

“We have told Newhaven where we expect to see rapid and widespread improvements and will continue to monitor the home closely to keep people safe during this time. We will return to check on their progress and won’t hesitate to use our regulatory powers further if people aren’t receiving the care they have a right to expect.”