An Andover care home has been criticised by inspectors after an unannounced visit during which they had to assist staff with residents.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited Rothsay Grange on Weyhill Road after receiving “accounts from whistle-blowers and complaints from relatives.”

They rated the home as requiring improvement in two categories, safety and leadership. Rothsay Grange had previously been rated as “inadequate” in 2016, improving to “requires improvement” in 2017 and then being rated as “good” in all areas last year.

The CQC’s report states that “the Memory Lane floor was not sufficiently staffed.” During a busy post-lunch period, this meant that inspectors had to step in to assist members of staff, while they also had to ask care workers to dress one person after they were exposing themselves due to poorly fitted clothing.

A member of staff told the CQC that “management are aware” of the staffing issues, “but don't come in to help. They just leave us to it."

Another member of staff said: “We don't bother talking to managers as nothing gets done.”

As a result of the lack of staff, the home was found to be in breach of health and social care regulations.

The inspectors were also concerned about Rothsay Grange’s approach to controlling infection, saying that they “saw several staff who were either not wearing masks or who put them on when they saw us.” They also noted that they “saw staff members interacting with different people without using sanitiser between them.”

However, the CQC report does note that “generally relatives were happy with the service their family members received.”

One individual with a relative at the home told inspectors that their family member “went there for respite, they loved it and considers it their home.”

When approached for comment, a spokesperson for Barchester told the Advertiser: “The home was rated as good in three categories recognising that Rothsay Grange provides a caring environment with an effective and responsive team. However, we take the findings of the CQC very seriously and we recognise that changes need to be made in the areas that require improvement, as identified in the report, and we are taking immediate steps to ensure these are addressed and will be implementing a full action plan.

“We would like to reassure every one of our commitment to provide the highest quality of care to those living at Rothsay Grange and to emphasise that their health and wellbeing is at the forefront of everything we do.”