A care home has closed following repeated breaches of health and social care regulations.

Chilterns Manor care home on Northern Heights in Bourne End has closed its doors after the Care Quality Commission rated it ‘inadequate’ three times in a row.

The residential home operated by Chilterns Healthcare Ltd was inspected in February and May 2023 following a previous ‘inadequate’ rating by the care watchdog in August last year.

Now the Free Press understands the care home has closed following its latest inspection report published on August 9, which rated the key categories of safety and leadership as ‘inadequate’.

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The CQC said residents were not “protected from the risk of avoidable harm.” This included use of portable heaters, an “extremely hot” radiator in one room and lack of risk assessments creating a choking risk, the report noted.

People were put at risk of fire at the people as the provider couldn’t assure the watchdog its fire risks had been addressed or were in action.

The incident reports did not always show the extent of injuries or who were affected. The CQC found people at the home could not be confident they would be “protected from the risk of abuse,” the report said.

Medicines were not always safely managed, including no records of medicines being received in the home and lack of administration records, which was a continued breach of Health and Social Care Act 2008. 

Following repeated poor ratings, by August the service had been in special measure for the maximum 12 months adult social care providers are allowed to be in special measures for.

Consequently, the service was deregistered with the CQC in early August, preventing it from continuing to operate as normal.  

Care homes in England cannot operate legally without a CQC registration.

The phone lines for Chilterns Manor appeared disconnected and the site seemed empty during a visit on August 15. 

The senior team at Chilterns Manor said over email: “Chilterns Manor was deregistered with the CQC on August 3.

“Chilterns Healthcare Ltd will no longer be operating a care home.”

When asked about their plans regarding the planning application to knock down the current building and to build a new care home, the provider said they had not formulated "plans for the future."