A CARE home in Basingstoke has been given a clean bill of health after a recent inspection from the healthcare watchdog.

Oakridge House Care Home with Nursing, based in Jefferson Road, was rated as ‘good’ in all areas after a visit from the Care Quality Commission (CQC.)

The Hampshire County Council-run care home service, which also provides nursing care, was praised in the five different report areas, including safety, effectiveness and responsiveness.

The service caters for up to 91 people who have a range of needs including diabetes, dementia and epilepsy.

Both the residential and nursing care aspect of the service were inspected, as the services is in two separate buildings.

The service was inspected on August 2 and 8, and the report published on September 20 read: “Effective systems and processes were in place to protect people from harm and abuse.

“Staff had completed safeguarding training and were knowledgeable about actions to take if they suspected abuse. The provider deployed sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.”

The service has improved, as following its previous inspection in July 2017, it was given a ‘requires improvement’ rating due to the appropriate action not being taken to ensure that people were safe when eating.

The most recent report concluded the necessary changes had been made and there is no longer a breach of any regulations.

The inspector added: “At this inspection we found significant improvements had been made to mitigate these risks.

“Food allergies were recorded and choking screens were completed and documented in people’s care plans.

“During mealtimes we observed that people were offered appropriate foods and assistance to eat to prevent the risk of choking.”

“Domestic assistants had been trained and had their competency assessed by registered nurses so they were able to support people who required help to eat. This meant that more staff were available to ensure people had the support they needed at mealtimes to keep them safe.”

Councillor Liz Fairhurst, Hampshire County Council’s executive member for Adult Social Care and Health, said: "We take CQC inspections very seriously and took immediate action to promptly address the small number of areas that required attention identified in the previous inspection.

"I am delighted that CQC has recognised this good work and awarded the home a ‘Good’ rating across the board.

"The safety and care of our residents is of the utmost importance and the management team and staff at the home continue to work hard to ensure the care provided to our residents is of the highest quality.”