PPE failings at care home posed infection risk, CQC says

The group running Croft House said it was "confident" the necessary improvements had been made

Care home residents and staff were put at risk of infection because personal protective equipment (PPE) was used wrongly, a health watchdog has said.

Croft House, in Ossett, near Wakefield, has been put in special measures after being deemed "inadequate" by Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors.

The home was "not well-led", according to inspectors who visited last year.

Countrywide Care Homes, which runs the site, said improvements had been made since the inspection on 18 December.

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The CQC report, which was published last week, highlighted a number of measures had not been taken, meaning staff and residents were exposed to the risk of infection transmission, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"Staff could not safely put on and take off PPE as this was stored in people's rooms. Staff needed to cross the room to collect the PPE," the report said.

Meanwhile, there was no hand sanitiser in the corridors or bins to dispose of PPE and staff "were not effectively wearing PPE", it added.

Residents at the home, which provides nursing and residential care for up to 68 people, were at "risk of missing medication or being given incorrect medication" because of how systems were managed, the report said.

The CQC graded Croft House "good" for three of its five criteria and "inadequate" for two, leading to its overall "inadequate" rating.

However, relatives spoke highly of staff at the home, with one family member describing an employee they knew as "accommodating and helpful", according to the report.

Responding to the findings, the Maria Mallaband Care Group, of which Countrywide Care Homes is a part, said: "Senior managers are supporting staff at Croft House care home to ensure the necessary improvements are made and sustained.

"We are confident we have made the necessary improvements", it added.