Belfast care home rapped by regulator for falling below minimum standards

Runwood Homes’ Clifton Nursing Home in Belfast has been rapped by the regulator for failing to meet the minimum standards expected of a care service.

An inspection of the home in June found a number of issues, including fire doors being wedged open, residents sharing net underwear and socks, a shortage of cleaning materials and disinfectants, fluid intake issues with one person, and residents enduring delays due to staff shortages.

The report comes after Runwood Homes’ Rose Court Nursing Home in Northern Ireland was issued a second warning in July over the use of shared underwear (Regulator issues second warning to care home over shared underwear).  Runwood Homes has denied that underwear was being shared at the home.

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Earlier this year, the Commissioner of Older People in Northern Ireland, issued a damning report on allegations of care home abuse at Runwood’s Dunmurry Manor (see UPDATED: Runwood Homes issues apology following ‘horrific’ report findings). Runwood has contested the report’s findings, which CEO Gordon Sanders describing them as “flawed and inaccurate” (see Row erupts over Dunmurry Manor care home inquiry).

Commenting on the Clifton Nursing Home report findings, a Runwood spokesperson told the Belfast Telegraph that its concerns were dealt with at the time and a subsequent inspection has given the home a “completely clean bill of health”. The spokesperson added that an independent HR clinic has said that staff are happy with the new management team.