THE Friends and Families of Furlong Close said they are in talks over a long-term plan for the site after it received an ‘Inadequate’ rating in its latest Care Quality Commission report.

Over the last few months, the Families and Friends of Furlong Close have been working on a plan to give the site a long-term future.

The friends and families group says it has had positive dialogue with the CQC, Hft and Wiltshire Council and is working so that their relatives can remain in their homes.

This would also allow residents to keep their long-standing carers under the management of a new care provider.

“The report has identified several key areas that Hft has not delivered on,” said Antonia Field, chairman of the group.

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“This has let our family members down and not provided them with the secure environment they are entitled to. This is completely unacceptable.”

The report, which came out on September 23, detailed several safeguarding concerns and that the site was not being well managed.

Now Furlong Close has now been put on special measures which means that there is a risk of closure if improvements are not made quickly.

It was not all negative, however, as the CQC did find that staff were caring and said that relatives and residents gave positive feedback.

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Kirsty Matthews, chief executive of Hft – the charity which runs the site – apologised and took full responsibility for the report.

She added: “We would like to unreservedly apologise for this. We take the issues raised very seriously and have taken immediate action to address them.

“A full review is underway which will identify and drive actions for improvement.”

Antonia continued: “It is very disappointing that Hft has been assessed as providing an inadequate standard of overall care at Furlong Close.

“Furlong Close itself, however, is not at fault. Furlong Close has provided excellent care to our vulnerable relatives for many, many years and is their settled and happy home.

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“We now need Hft to act urgently to address the deficiencies identified by the CQC and all parties to work together to bring to fruition the progressive plan for Furlong Close that we have been working on over the summer, which will allow Furlong Close to once again become a model of best practice in the adult social care sector.”

Corporate director for people at Wiltshire Council, Lucy Townsend said: “This is a very serious matter and we will be talking to our residents and their families about the implications of this report and what this means for residents.

“As always our priority is to ensure residents are safe and well, and provided with appropriate care and support.

"It isn’t appropriate to speculate about the future at this stage – our foremost concern is for the residents and to ensure they receive the care and support they need as we explore all viable options.”