CIGARETTE stubs lying about, wardrobes not secured to walls and dirty fingernails were flagged up by inspectors at a care home in Bolton.

Farnworth Care Home dropped a ranking at its most recent inspection when the care home watchdog told them they most improve.

The home in Church Street had been rated "good" in all areas by the Care Quality Commission but now "requires improvement" according to a report published this month.

Inspectors found two breaches of the regulations where medicines were not being administered properly and checks were not being carried out properly.

Medicinal creams at the home were left out in rooms instead of being stored securely and inspectors raised concerns that records around creams were poorly kept.

Staff were not able to show inspectors it was carrying out the necessary checks on residents or their environment.

Inspectors said: "We noted that near the entrance to the garden area it was littered with cigarette ends."

Visitors to the home told inspectors their relatives fingernails were long and dirty with "brown matter".

Inspectors said: ""We were told by the manager they had requested the family bring in nail clippers so that nails could be tended to by staff. This is part of personal care and checks should have been in place to ensure that people's nails were kept clean."

They also raised concerns about safety saying: "Environmental audits and risk assessments had not identified the rooms where the wardrobes had not been secured to the walls."

Inspectors also found a bathroom being used for storage while another bathroom was broken.

Some residents asked worried about the number of staff at the home and inspectors noted: "We found due to the size and layout of the home it was sometimes difficult to locate staff immediately."

The inspection was carried out in June last year during a changeover of management

Inspectors were satisfied the home was putting together action plans to tackle the issue raised.

They were pleased with the lunches served at the home saying "it was an overall pleasant experience" and noted staff were available to help. There was also positive feedback about the food from residents and relatives.

Staff were called "kind and caring".

A spokesman for Farnworth Care Home said: "We are obviously disappointed at the overall outcome of requires improvement despite the home being rated as good in two of the domains.

"The staff team has been working hard to make the necessary improvements and we are confident that we will achieve an overall Good at the next inspection.

"This reports relates to an inspection last year which The Bolton Evening News reported on back in September.

"The report was delayed in publication due to our challenge of several factual inaccuracies."