THE manager of a care home which was rated inadequate for the second time in six months has said it will close.

Eight Ash Court, in Eight Ash Green, was heavily criticised in a report by the Care Quality Commission.

The report followed an unannounced inspection in February, where inspectors said lessons had not been learned following their previous visit in August when the home was also rated inadequate.

The home cares for 12 people including those living with a physical disability, learning disability, and autism.

But the manager of Eight Ash Court, Jason Cheung, hit back at the report and defended his staff arguing a lack of support from the authorities combined with Covid-19 pressures made circumstances unnecessarily difficult.

Mr Cheung said the home had requests for assistance denied which had resulted in a resident lashing out at members of staff.

He also revealed the decision to close the home was partly down to lack of support and funding.

A statement from Mr Cheung read: “The management team accept there have been some failings on our part, and we have never shied away from working tirelessly to address the criticisms we have faced.

“We looked after one resident whose health and person-centred support needs were denied by outside services when requested.

“This led to the person lashing out at staff and other service users, however, no injuries were sustained that required any medical attention from outside services.”

Mr Cheung added: “We have come through the pandemic with no deaths from Covid, and with only 50 per cent of service users contracting the virus at the peak of the pandemic with only mild symptoms.

“Despite these immense pressures, we delivered this level of care [and] we are proud of this.

“Due to this ongoing lack of support and funding in the face of everincreasing costs, the home has decided to close. Only since making this decision have the authorities offered any help and expressed sorrow at our decision.”