Nursing home Wordsworth House on Clayton Road is unable to accept new admissions after a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report deemed it “inadequate” and in breach of a number of safety regulations.

Part of the Akari Care group, Wordsworth House is currently the only care home in the Jesmond area without a “good” rating from the CQC.

Its report on Wordsworth House highlights a number of concerns observed during the inspection which the inspector believed could put residents at potential risk. These concerns include an absence of emergency evacuation plans, lack of appropriate risk assessments and a nurse call bell that had not been in working order for a number of months.

The report also mentions an ongoing criminal investigation being conducted after two people were seriously injured at Wordsworth House. Newcastle Adults Safeguarding Board told JesmondLocal: “We can confirm that the concerns referenced in the CQC report form part of an enquiry currently being conducted under the policy and procedures of the Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board.”

A CQC spokesperson outlined the next steps for Wordsworth House in light of the recent report, explaining how the care home will be required to submit an action plan highlighting how it plans to improve its services. This will be followed by a re-inspection within the next six months and if services have not improved then enforcement action will be taken and the home’s licence could be removed.

Akari Cares declined to comment when JesmondLocal asked about the measures that had been put in place since the report last month.

South Jesmond councillor Arlene Ainsley described the recent report as “worrying” but said Newcastle City Council and the CQC were working together to address the issue. Wordsworth House was without a registered manager when the inspection took place, a factor which Ainsley believes is reflected by the “inadequate” review as “so much is dependent on the manager”.

Out of the 35 care homes run by Akari Care which have received CQC reports, 17 sites received a “good” rating, 16 sites were deemed “requires improvement” and two classed as “inadequate”.

Dene Park House in South Gosforth is one of the Akari Cares sites which received a “requires improvement” rating.

JesmondLocal spoke to the daughter of a resident living in Dene Park House who expressed her dissatisfaction with the company, but has asked to remain anonymous as she does not want her statement to affect the care her father is receiving.

She told JesmondLocal how Dene Park House had altered her father’s care package in October 2015 from nursing to residential as his health had improved. However she says that Dene Park House did not inform her of the change and that she only realised the change in 2017. “I thought, hang on we shouldn’t be paying for the nursing, we should be just paying for the residential. So when they backdated the payments they owed us £15,000.”

The money has been repaid, however the interviewee told JesmondLocal: “I would be very worried if there were people in there who don’t have relatives because it’s the relatives who are highlighting the problems.”