10/12/2014

CQC Shut Down Nursing Home After Inspectors Report Unsafe Care

A Surrey nursing home has been shut down after Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors warned the elderly residents were at "significant risk of harm".

The CQC said a recent inspection of Merok Park Nursing Home in Banstead found the nursing home to be "dirty", with an "overpowering" smell of urine.

Adrian Hughes, the CQC's chief inspector of adult social care, said: "The Care Quality Commission does not take enforcement action lightly, given the obvious impact on people who live in nursing and residential care homes, but in this case we felt that the home was unsafe.

"Staff were working up to 60 hours per week and there were not enough staff on duty, and relevant training had not been provided.

"Taking any decision which causes people to leave their homes is always difficult at any time of the year, but it is our view that it was no longer safe for people to remain in Merok Park."

A total of 26 residents have been moved following the closure.

(CD/JP)

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