A CARE home where an elderly resident complained about being locked up ‘like a prisoner’ and inspectors found some rooms to be ‘dirty’, ‘cold’, and ‘dimly-lit’ has been ordered to improve.

Two unannounced inspections carried out at Church View Residential Home revealed a catalogue of problems and breaches of regulation.

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The home, in Church Street, Oswaldtwistle, was branded inadequate in four out of five key areas by the Care Quality Commission, and told it also needs to improve in the fifth.

Management at the home, which is run by People in Care Ltd and is registered to provide care for up to 30 people, said they were ‘disappointed’ with the rating and were ‘working extremely hard’ to address its problems.

Two social care inspectors and an expert called at the home twice in March.

Their report read: “One person told us: ‘We are locked up like prisoners at night.’ “This person told us it had not been their choice to lock their bedroom door.

“We spoke with other people who used the service who told us they did not have keys to their bedroom doors; however confirmed, if they wished, they could have their door closed.

“Some bedrooms we looked at required cleaning. One had an opened toothpaste tube left on the sink with toothpaste spilling out of it, and a shower room was noted to have a dirty soap tray.

“We saw windows were dusty and dirty, and the manager told us these had not been cleaned recently.”

The report continued: “We looked in 26 people’s bedrooms and identified in 12, pillows were lumpy and needed to be replaced.

“The manager told us they had purchased new pillows but could not explain why these had not yet been given to people.”

Another resident told inspectors they had to climb under the covers in their room to keep warm. After being challenged, the manager told inspectors a boiler needed to be replaced.

The report said: “We looked in people’s bedrooms and saw some had been nicely decorated and had evidence of personal items and mementoes in them.

“However, we also noted some of the bedrooms required updating and were dimly lit.

“People living in the home told us they were happy with the care they received. However, some visiting relatives expressed concerns.

“A relative told us they had noted one person was seen to be more unkempt in the last few months.

“We also noted that their clothing was stained with old food.”