Care Quality Commission has taken urgent action to protect residents at Rodney House
12:42, 16 Oct 2025Updated 12:51, 16 Oct 2025
Rodney House Care Home on Canning Street in Liverpool
The company behind a Liverpool care home described as “extremely unhygienic and unsafe” by inspectors has hit back at the report into its failings. Today the ECHO revealed the grim details of what the Care Quality Commission (CQC) staff found when they visited Rodney House care home in Liverpool city centre earlier this month.
The inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) took place in June and July of this year and has resulted in the watchdog taking urgent action against the home, which is run by EBS Services Limited and provides care for older people and those with physical disabilities and mental health conditions.
In a damning report, the CQC’s director of operations in the north, Karen Knapton said: “People were living in extremely unhygienic and unsafe conditions. Smoking was taking place in communal areas as well as bedrooms, which had resulted in extensive damage being caused from cigarette burns. There was also exposed electrical wiring which placed people at risk of electrocution.”
The inspectors said bathroom and toilet facilities were unclean and poorly stocked with toilet roll or paper towels. One resident told the team: “There is hardly ever any toilet roll.”
The report added: “Most bedrooms, and people’s bedding was visibly dirty. We observed stained bedroom furniture and windowsills, stale and unlabelled food, stained and heavily marked bed bases and mattresses. Most bedrooms were extremely malodourous.
The inspectors added: “One person told us mice were living in their mattress and showed inspectors evidence of this. We raised this immediately so the person’s mattress could be replaced.”
Now EBS Services Limited has responded to the details of the report by the CQC, challenging some elements of the report – including the details about the mice in a mattress.
A spokesperson for the company said: “EBS Services Ltd is aware of recent media references to alleged “mice in a mattress” at Rodney House Care Home.
“This statement is inaccurate and under review. The mattress referred to is still in our possession and has been retained for examination. Our independent pest control contractor has confirmed in writing that they have never reported any infestation at Rodney House and that any minor issues were always addressed immediately.
“EBS Services Ltd will issue a full clarification once the independent inspection of the mattress has been completed.”
The company said it also wanted to clarify that the Rodney House service closed earlier this year following the local authority’s decision to relocate all residents.
A spokesperson claimed that over the past three years, the company has “invested heavily in refurbishment, safety systems and infection-control measures, supported by external maintenance and environmental reports. These works included full replacement of fire doors, upgrades to bathrooms and walk-in showers, and extensive health-and-safety compliance audits.”
The statement added: “It is regrettable that the CQC inspection process failed to give due recognition to this context or to the improvements that were evidenced, including independent infection control assessments and verified pest control documentation confirming that there had been no unmanageable infestations.
“It is particularly disappointing that CQC declined to take account of photographic evidence provided by an independent contractor who was instructed to remove the mattress in question. The photographs clearly showed that there was no evidence of mice or infestation.
“The alternative to our service was to put people on the streets. We tolerated and made the residents safer than any other place they could live. We never judged; we continuously picked up the pieces and endured what no other home would consider for the most complex people in the city of Liverpool.
“Our philosophy has always been simple: every person deserves safety, shelter, dignity, and respect — no matter how complex their needs or how difficult their journey. Many of the people we supported had lived through trauma, rejection, and long-term homelessness. Rodney House provided stability, compassion, and a genuine chance to rebuild their lives.
The spokesperson added: “Our work was founded on human rights principles: autonomy, inclusion, and the belief that people with capacity have the right to make choices — even when those choices are challenging. The balance between safety and personal freedom has always been at the heart of our practice, and it is a balance that cannot be measured by conventional residential care standards.”
Despite these claims, the CQC were clearly deeply unimpressed with what they found at Rodney House, placing the service into special measures and rating it as inadequate in all areas.
Ms Knapton added: “No-one should have to live in these shocking, undignified conditions.
“People told us they had to wait for up to an hour and a half for staff to respond when they pressed their call bell for help leaving them distressed. Also, inspectors saw someone sitting in their bedroom with no television on and no batteries in their remote control. We asked if they wanted us to tell staff, and the person told us that they wouldn’t do anything about it as they don’t care.
“We have told leaders where we expect to see rapid and widespread improvements, and we will continue to monitor the home closely during this time. We have also begun the process of using our regulatory powers further to ensure this happens.”