A FAMILY-owned care home has been told by the health watchdog that it must improve.

Clifford House, in Alexandra Road, Andover, has been rated as ‘requires improvement’ in its latest report from the national health watchdog Care Quality Commission (CQC). 

The home was rated as ‘good’ for being a caring service while ‘requiring improvement’ in the being responsive, effective and well-led categories.  It was also marked as ‘inadequate’ for safety.

While the report recognised the friendly nature of the home with sufficient staff levels and a good understanding of identifying abuse and neglect, concerns were raised for the safety of residents.

The report said: “People had not always been protected from risks associated with the environment and the provider had not taken proper steps to ensure that all of the required checks had been completed before staff started working at the service. 

“Medicines were not always managed safely. We could not be confident that people were receiving their medicines as prescribed. 

“The provider had not adequately assessed risks to people’s health and safety and done all that was reasonably practicable to mitigate such risks.”

The Alexandra Road home specialises in caring for adults over 65 who require nursing, personal care or suffer from dementia. 

The management team said they were “disappointed” with the rating received from the CQC publication released on 21 October, but said the watchdog were supportive and helpful. 

Clifford House manager Caroline Hardy said: “We take the findings of the Care Quality Commission’s recent inspection very seriously and recognise that changes need to be made in some aspect of the home as the report identified. 

“A number of the issues identified within the report have been rectified, and there is a comprehensive action plan in place outlining the steps being taken to ensure the required improvements continue to be achieved. 

“We were pleased that the entire staff team have been recognised in this report for their caring and respectful manner to all residents at the home, which directly contributes to the ‘friendly and homely culture within the home.’

"It is our utmost priority to work hard to ensure the residents at Clifford House are fully safeguarded from any potential risk, as well as continuing to provide the highest possible standard of care.” 

To read the full report, go to cqc.org.uk/location/1-112108273.