The ECHO investigates how issues with the Croxteth care home stretch beyond a decade
Stonedale Lodge care home in Croxteth
After a litany of failures and damning reports – why is Stonedale Lodge still open? It was once described as the Liverpool care home where you wouldn’t want to send your relatives. Yet 10 years on and after many documented shortcomings, Stonedale Lodge in Croxteth continues to house vulnerable residents seeking care.
The home’s latest assessment – which took place in June – was published last week in which it was revealed residents were left “bored stiff” and in some cases, such was the level of care, their toenails were “significantly overgrown”. It was put back into special measures for the second time in three years by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The home changed hands in 2018 when Advinia Health Care took over the site from BUPA. Yet this failed to reverse the slide in standards that had previously resulted in some living at the home being so badly hurt they died from their injuries.
Issues surrounding the home date back to 2012 when former manager Karen Southern received a suspended eight month jail sentence after being convicted of the wilful neglect of elderly dementia patient Joyce Farrow. Mrs Farrow had been admitted to the home in July 2010, but Liverpool Crown Court was told she was “left to tumble out of bed and crawl around the dirty floor naked”.
Joyce Farrow, right, who died aged 90 after a stay in Stonedale Lodge nursing home, Croxteth. Her daughter, Pauline Slaughter, raised concerns leading to care home manager Karen Southern being taken to court for neglect. Also pictured granddaughter Alex and great granddaughter Aimee.
Southern, of Halewood, was subsequently struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. In 2015, before it was handed over to Advinia, Stonedale Lodge was banned from taking on any new residents.
In the same year, Christopher Hoey, 83, who also had Parkinson’s disease, died nearly six weeks after being rushed to casualty from the home. Mr Hoey’s relatives claimed his injuries were scalding or burn wounds but BUPA, who ran the 180-bed facility at the time, said the cause was not known.
Two people, believed to be employees at the home, were interviewed under caution and a file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether the pair should be charged with any criminal offences. Merseyside Police confirmed the investigation concluded without charge owing to a lack of evidence.
Christopher Hoey, 83, who suffered unexplained injuries at Croxteths Stonedale Lodge Nursing and Residential Home
Issues re-emerged in August 2022, when a patient barricaded themselves in their room for fear of their own safety.
A CQC report found that a resident took it upon themselves to drag a chair to block their room door because they didn’t feel safe. The patient told inspectors: “I don’t feel safe, I feel isolated and vulnerable. Anything could happen to you here and no-one would know.”
After a period of improvement, the home was taken out of special measures in June 2023. This did not last long however, with health inspectors deeming the level of care to be inadequate by February 2024.
Officials from Advinia, which operates the home, said they disputed elements of the inspection carried out the previous December, claiming the report contained “misrepresentations” of care offered at the Croxteth site. They sought legal means to challenge the findings.During that inspection, residents were said to be found with dirty fingernails and unbrushed teeth, sleeping in beds with stained pillowcases, indicating they hadn’t been washed frequently.
It has remained in special measures ever since and in April 2025 inspectors were shocked to find some of its services had got even worse – with its failures leaving vulnerable residents at risk of neglect and abuse. A report published this month set out how 38 falls had been recorded between January and July this year.
Inspectors said the provider did not concentrate on improving people’s lives or protecting their right to live in safety, free from bullying, harassment, abuse, discrimination, avoidable harm and neglect. In one case, financial records for seven people showed they had not received their weekly personal allowance which they were entitled to for some time.
Another person’s toenails were significantly overgrown despite their personal hygiene records saying their toenails were checked by staff and no issues noted. When a home is placed into special measures the CQC’s website says this provides a “clear timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of care they provide, or we will seek to cancel their registration.”
Stonedale Lodge Nursing and Residential Home was previously ran by Bupa
If sufficient progress has not been made when officials re-inspect and there are inadequate ratings for any key questions, the CQC said it would begin to take action to prevent the service from operating, either by proposing to cancel their registration or to vary the terms of their registration. If inadequacies remain, the care watchdog said it would “take action to stop or limit the operation of the service.”
When the ECHO asked what it would take for further action to be taken at Stonedale, we were referred to its enforcement guidelines. This did not set out if the business could be shut down over continued failings.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Advinia said: “The safety and wellbeing of our residents is our priority, and we are committed to providing high quality care at Stonedale Lodge Care Home. We take the CQC concerns extremely seriously and have ensured that there is strict monitoring and implementation of all safety and wellbeing issues, as in all of our homes throughout the UK, the vast majority of which are rated Good by regulators.”
The spokesperson accepted how Stonedale Lodge had “faced challenges over the last year” and said its dedicated resident safety team is “working tirelessly to ensure that the home is firmly on a path to sustainable improvements.” The statement added: “We have identified urgent changes to some staff and have reviewed high dependency residents with high care needs to ensure their needs are in line with the capacity of the home.”
The company said it was working with Liverpool Council and the CQC to resolve this but said social care providers were in a funding crisis. The spokesperson said this led a number of care facilities across Liverpool to close.
The statement added: “Stonedale Lodge has many high dependent residents with inadequate funding to look after them, which has been pointed out to the authorities. We are however, determined to be there for our local community and provide our much-needed service now, and in the future.
“Our team is fully committed to working closely with the CQC, and all other authorities, during this period and we thank our residents and their loved ones for their support and patience.”