BOSSES at a care home near Malvern have been told for a second time by a watchdog the service must improve.

The Chace Rest Home in Chase Road, Upper Welland, near Malvern was the subject of an unannounced inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the heath and social care regulator, which rated the home as ‘requires improvement’ overall.

However, care manager Lynne Burton says an action plan is in place and that a number of inaccuracies had been removed from the original CQC report.

The service was rated ‘good’ for effectiveness but ‘requires improvement’ for all other categories including safety, care, responsiveness and leadership.

The inspection itself took place on February 19 and 22 at the home which cares for up to 41 people.

The visit follows an earlier CQC inspection on May 19 and 20 last year which also found the home needed to be improved.

Criticisms of the home by the inspector in the latest report included that people did not have their medicines administered and stored in a safe way and that arrangements to assess the quality of care were not always effective.

Staff did not always follow risk assessments advice, putting people at potential risk.

The inspector also wrote that there was a lack of management present at weekends.

However, the registered manager was considered approachable by service users.

Medication stock was stored in the registered manager's office in a locked cupboard but the key was not kept in a secure place so anyone visiting the home could potentially have access to people's medicines.

The inspector wrote: “People were kept safe from potential abuse and harm by staff who understood how to identify the various types of abuse and knew who to report any concerns to.”

People enjoyed the food they received but food and drink was not always consistently monitored to ensure they stayed healthy.

The range of food and drink was praised in the report as well as the support for people with specialist diets.

The food was described as ‘excellent’ by one person the inspector spoke to.

The inspector wrote: “People told us staff were caring and they were happy living at the home. One person told us, "The staff are my friends." A relative said, "Care staff know [person's name] well, they are very caring."

However, the inspector also added: “We received a concern from a relative to say they thought their relative had not had a bath or shower for over a month, when we checked their care records we could not find any record of them

having a bath or shower."

People also had access to a wide range of health professionals if they needed them.

The inspector wrote: “This service was not consistently safe.

"People did not have their medicines stored or administered in a safe way.

"Risk assessments were in place for people, staff didn't always follow the guidelines. So put people at unnecessary risk.

“This service is not always caring. People's personal information was not stored securely and so didn't protect people's right to confidentiality.

"People were not always treated with dignity and respect. "This service was not always responsive.

"Staff didn't always know information about the person they

cared for and what was important in their life.

"This service was not consistently well-led. Quality Audits in place failed to identify shortfalls in people's

medicine administration and care plans."

Lynne Burton, care manager at the Chace Rest Home, said: "A full action plan has been sent to CQC to address any outstanding concerns following the removal of a number of inaccuracies on the report initially.

"CQC have accepted the action plan. We took immediate action to rectify issues raised including a full audit of the medication management system and administration.

"This was carried out by our provider pharmacist and no issues were raised.

"The report is balanced with positive aspects of the service which is acknowledged as effective overall.

"We are building on this effectiveness and providing the best care available for people living with dementia.

"The current climate in the care home industry is challenging and demanding and we are committed to meeting these challenges."