Bamber Bridge care home to close with job losses

A care home is shutting down after inspectors twice criticised the way it looked after its elderly residents.
Withy Grove House will close by the end of May.Withy Grove House will close by the end of May.
Withy Grove House will close by the end of May.

Efforts are now being made to re-locate more than 30 occupants of Withy Grove House in Bamber Bridge.

And the company which owns the home has admitted there are likely to be staff redundancies when the facility shuts its doors at the end of May.

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“This has been an incredibly difficult decision and not one that we have taken lightly,” said a spokesperson for Larchwood Care Homes (North) Limited.

Withy Grove House was put into “special measures” by the Care Quality Commission last summer after an unannounced inspection found it failed in all five categories of care and rated it inadequate overall.

Within two months of that CQC report being published, another team visited the home and found while some recommended improvements had been made, it was still deemed inadequate on the safety of residents and in the way it was being managed.

The inspectors found a high number of agency staff were being used, especially at night and there were systems errors in the management of medicines.

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The home did not have a registered manager in place and there were problems with record keeping.

The inspection took place due to information received by CQC in relation to safe care and treatment, safeguarding concerns and the management of the service,” says the latest CQC report.

A relative of one resident who has already been moved to another home, said: “It’s been very upsetting. But there are still residents in there who don’t know what is going to happen to them.”

A spokesman for Larchwood Care Homes said: “This has been an incredibly difficult decision and not one that we have taken lightly.

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“The home has been financially unsustainable for some considerable time for several reasons including the inadequacy of fees paid by commissioners, high operating costs and low admission rates.

“We understand that this is a difficult time for residents and families, and we will do everything we can, working with the local authority, to help them find alternative homes.

“We will also support staff to find alternative employment, but we regret that there are likely to be redundancies.”