A CARE home in Poole has been told to make improvements following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Ashley Court, which cares for around 60 people, some of whom have dementia, was inspected in March, however CQC inspectors have only published their report this month.

They brought forward their inspection after concerns about the care home in St Peter’s Road were reported to the regulator.

The home had been rated ‘good’ at a previous inspection in September 2017.

At the time of the inspection, there was no registered manager in place after the previous manager left their post at the end of December.

A new manager had been recruited, however, and was due to start at the home in April.

Inspectors found the recruitment of staff was “not always safe and robust”, and improvements were needed in staff training for medicine management.

According to their report, they also found there were “mixed views” among staff and visitors about whether there were “sufficient numbers of staff on duty to support people appropriately”.

Some people at the care home “may not have always had their privacy and dignity respected because their preferences for the gender of staff providing care could not always be met”, inspectors said.

They rated the care home as ‘requires improvement’ in the areas of ‘safe’, ‘responsive’ and ‘well-led’.

However, they did rate the care home as ‘good’ for being ‘effective’ and ‘caring’.

People at the care home “spoke positively about the management of the home and the support they receive”, the report stated.

Ashley Court also had a “homely feel” and was “clean and well-maintained throughout”.

And “people and visitors were confident they could raise any concerns, and these would be addressed appropriately”.

The care home was asked to send the CQC an action plan detailing the steps that will be taken to improve the service.

A re-inspection will also take place.