MANAGERS at a Dudley care home rated as requiring improvement have said they would welcome a new inspection by the healthcare watchdog.

Bosses at Broadway Halls say they have addressed all issues of concern raised in a report by the Care Quality Commission, published on March 1, in relation to an inspection that was carried out in September 2022.

Inspectors from the CQC visited on September 8 and 9, 2022, and downgraded the home on The Broadway from good to requires improvement after concerns were raised about inadequate staffing levels, wound management, record keeping, pressure relief and incidents not being shared with relevant agencies.

Inspectors found medicines were not always managed safely and several medicine admin records contained unexplained gaps in recording.

They also found that risks to people's health and safety were not always identified and managed and that residents had not always received consistent support to reduce their risk of pressure sores.

The provider's recruitment practices needed to be improved, inspectors said, and its systems and processes to assess and monitor the service were not always effective or robust to enable improvements to take place.

Inspectors looked at whether the home was safe, well-led and effective, determining that its effectiveness could be rated as good but handing it requires improvement ratings for whether it was safe and well-led – resulting in an overall requires improvement rating.

Inspectors noted that people told them they felt safe, that staff sought consent prior to carrying out care tasks and there were systems and processes to protect people from the risk of abuse.

When things went wrong, the report noted, the manager carried out investigations and lessons learnt were shared with staff; meanwhile relatives said they were informed when things went wrong.

People were supported to eat and drink, inspectors noted, but feedback suggested the food could be better. Staff reportedly said they felt supported by managers and that “people spoke positively about the new manager”.

People were also supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.

Barchester Healthcare, which runs Broadway Halls, told the News all issues identified have since been rectified and said the home is ready for the CQC to make a return visit.

A spokesperson for Barchester Healthcare said: “We take the findings of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) very seriously and recognised at the time that changes needed to be made in the areas identified as requiring improvement.

“This process began 18 months ago, when we took immediate steps to ensure these issues were addressed, by implementing a full action plan.

“In the time since, a great deal has changed at the home, including the appointment of a new general manager, who has now been in post for over a year.

“All points raised by the report have been addressed through a robust action plan, and new procedures have been put in place.

“The home is now ready for the CQC to come back and would welcome a new inspection.”