A WIRRAL care home for elderly dementia sufferers has been told it must improve in four out of five crucial areas following an inspection by independent watchdogs.

The Care Quality Commission said the facility had taken steps forward since an earlier inspection rated it as "inadequate," but that more still needed to be done.

The commission said it had "held a number of concerns" about Safe Harbour Dementia Care Home in Abbot's Drive, Bebington, for the last two years and had taken enforcement action against the registered provider, Amrit Ltd.

The watchdog carried out unannounced inspections in January and February this year and found breaches of legal requirements.

A report published this week says a further unannounced inspection was carried out in June to check an agreed action plan had been followed.

The inspection found further improvements are required in the following four areas:

Safety: "We found that although action had been taken to improve safety, all of the improvements to ensure the safety of people were not made.

"Issues identified as requiring ‘immediate remedial action’ during an electrical installation periodic examination in January had not been addressed at the time of the inspection."

Effectiveness: "Action had been taken to improve effectiveness but the service was still not always effective."

Responsiveness: "The service was responsive. People who lived at the home and their representatives were consulted about their care, treatment and support. Information was recorded to provide staff with the most up-to-date information about people’s needs.

"However, the information was not always easy to find because the files were not in any order and there was some out of date information contained in them."

Leadership: "Action had been taken to improve leadership but the service was still not well-led. The service had not had a registered manager for two years.

"The manager at the time of the inspection had been in post for two months and had made a number of improvements but it was too early to determine whether the improvements would be sustained."

However, in the "caring" category Safe Harbour was rated as good: "People were provided with care that was kind and compassionate."

The overall rating for the home was "requires improvement."

A CQC spokesman said the facility is "moving in the right direction" and inspectors will continue to monitor its improvement plan to ensure all necessary action is taken.