MANAGERS at an Abingdon care home have been slammed by the health watchdog after a recent inspection identified a string of failures.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said that the Milton Heights facility run by Hft had put people at risk of harm with bosses failing to carry out proper safety checks or fire drills.

Concerns were also raised that staff had not checked purchased medicines for potential interactions with existing conditions or prescribed medicines, according to the recently published report.

The home at No 3 & 4a Milton Heights in Potash Lane was rated ‘requires improvement’ overall, however, the leadership was ‘inadequate’.

Read again: Acquire Care Ltd bosses told to improve by Care Quality Commission

The safe and responsive measures were rated as ‘requires improvement’, while the caring and effective measures were rated ‘good’.

In the report the CQC said: “There were widespread and significant shortfalls in service leadership.

“Leaders and the culture they created did not assure the delivery of high-quality care.

“Some regulations were not met.”

Hft is a national charity offering care and support to adults with learning difficulties.

The home in Abingdon, one of two facilities in the town run by Hft, provides residential care to adults with learning disabilities and was previously rated as ‘requires improvement’ in March 2018.

However, inspectors found that bosses had failed to make the improvements requested by the CQC following the previous inspection.

Also in the news: Stress and mental health problems soar at Oxford hospitals

The CQC said: “We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure the rating of the service improves to at least Good.

“We will re-inspect the service within our published timescales to see what improvements have been made.

"If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.”

Divisional director for Hft Mark Reay, said an internal investigation into the failings was underway while additional management support had been put in place at Milton Heights.

Mr Reay added: "We are fully committed to ensuring that we address all of the areas of concern at Milton Heights as quickly and effectively as possible to ensure we reach the high standards we expect of all our services."

"An internal investigation is in progress, additional management support has been put in place, and a robust action plan has been developed and is currently underway.

"The people we support at Milton Heights and their families remain our priority and we are working hard to ensure as little disruption to them as possible as we make these improvements as a matter of urgency.”