Care home Improving Standards To Fight Legionnaires’

Legionella in Care Homes

A care home in Rochdale has been placed in ‘special measures’ following raised concerns from inspectors over fire safety, legionella and ‘unsafe recruitment’.

Stamford House, in Rochdale, provides personal and nursing care for up to 23 people aged over 65, and has previously been rated ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

This assessment has now been downgraded to ‘inadequate’ after the health watchdog visited the premises in November last year.

Reinspected for safety

The care home will be reinspected within six months and could be closed down if it fails to make the necessary improvements.

The home says it is already making good progress and working with the CQC and Rochdale council to regain its former ‘good rating’.

The inspection was undertaken after concerns were raised ‘about the management of incidents at the home.

Safety Report

The safety report from the carehome reads: “People were placed at risk because fire safety was not safely managed.

“The provider and registered manager had not actioned all the recommendations on their most recent fire risk assessment.

“For example, not all staff had completed fire safety training.”

However, the report does note that the home took action to improve fire safety, both during and after the inspection.

But further concerns were raised by the failure to assess the risk from legionella – the bacteria that leads to people contracting Legionnaires’ disease if inhaled from small water droplets.

The registered manager took action during the inspection to arrange the necessary checks and provided evidence this would take place following the visit.

You can read the full article via Manchester Evening News.

Importance of regular Legionella Testing

Regular testing for legionella can help prevent potential and sometimes fatal outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease. This is extremely important if you manage a building which houses members of the public, or if anyone uses the water facilities. The same applies to empty buildings. If a building is disused for a number of years and then comes into use again it must be tested before public use.

Furthermore, routine legionella testing helps to safeguard the health and well-being of building occupants, tenants, and visitors to any facility. It is very important you have annual checks.

Periodic monitoring for legionella bacteria will supplement any maintenance program and will serve to demonstrate a clear action of due diligence whilst ensuring the programme is working effectively.

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