A care home in Rastrick has been placed in ‘special measures’ and given six months to improve.

St Winifred’s Nursing Home in Crowtrees Lane was rated ‘inadequate’ after its latest Care Quality Commission report.

Inspectors spent two days at the home in August and found five breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The report criticised: a lack of overnight staff; general poor record keeping; and lax monitoring of the nutrition and hydration needs of residents.

During the visit inspectors found that the morning medicine round often took two-and-a-half hours to complete and not all residents who needed drugs before breakfast were given them in time.

St. Winifreds Nursing Home, Crowtrees Lane, Rastrick.

Records also showed that night duty was covered by one qualified nurse and two care assistants however inspectors were told that half the residents needed two staff to attend to personal care during the night, leaving just one member of staff to answer alarm calls.

The relatives of two residents told inspectors they had no idea night staffing levels were so low and were concerned about people’s safety.

Record-keeping was also a problem. A check of money and valuables being held for residents found two discrepancies and food and fluid charts were not monitored properly.

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The report says: “Services in special measures will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider’s registration of the service, will be inspected again within six months.

“The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this time frame.”

If the home has not improved it will be given a further six months before enforcement action or closure.

St. Winifreds Nursing Home, Crowtrees Lane, Rastrick.

Care home company director Mr Bipan Lamba said that since the inspection in August some 85-90% of the problems highlighted, mainly concerning administration and record-keeping, had been rectified and the remainder were being addressed urgently.

Mr Lamba said an action plan had been agreed with inspectors and the home hoped to come out of special measures after its next inspection.

He said the quality of care at the home was not in question, the problems raised involved administration.

Overnight staffing levels had been increased.