BOSSES at a Wirral nursing home have been ordered to make improvements following a damning report from health officials.

Health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said people’s care needs were not always taken into account at Highground Care Home, equipment was dirty and medication was not always stored at the correct temperature.

In a report published this week, inspectors highlight repeated concerns following their inspection in August.

They found that the Oxton nursing home was failing to provide care which was “safe, effective, caring, responsive or well led” and all nine of the national standards reviewed were not being met.

The CQC said it found improvements identified on a previous visit in April 2014 had not been sustained and raised a number of concerns, including that “care and treatment was not planned in the best interests of the residents’ health and wellbeing”.

It also found that residents were not protected from the risks of “unsafe care”, with safeguarding policies not being followed or updated accordingly.

Several areas of the home were found to be “dirty and in a poor state of repair” while records showed that the temperature of the medicines room and fridge was not being monitored regularly.

The CQC said that people living at the home told inspectors there was a “lack of staff” and that they often had to wait for care and assistance.

A review of the home’s staffing rota confirmed that there had been insufficient staffing levels on a number of occasions.

Inspectors said staff were not being supported to deliver care and treatment safely, and some employees had receiving little training in certain areas.

Debbie Westhead, CQC’s deputy chief inspector of adult social care in the north, said: “Highground Care hoem has an inconsistent history where standards of care are concerned, the ongoing variation in quality of care cannot be allowed to continue.”

CQC findings have been shared with the Local Authority Safeguarding Team and concerns have been passed on to Irvine Care Limited – also known as Four Seasons Health Care.

Ms Westhead added: “We have told Irvine Care Limited very clearly where they must take action to address our concerns.

"The residents receiving care from Highground Care Home are entitled to receive services which are safe, effective, compassionate, well led, and responsive to their needs.

"We are monitoring Highground Care Home very closely in liaison with the local authority to ensure that people receiving care are not at risk of immediate harm, and we will report further on any further action we intend to take in due course."

A spokeswoman for Four Seasons said: “Our senior regional management team recognised there were issues with the standard of care provision and we accept the CQC findings.

“Since the inspection in August we have been working closely with the Local Authority Social Services team to address them. We also plan to meet with relatives of residents in the near future.”