A LOSTOCK nursing home has failed to make substantial improvements since a visit last March found it was struggling, a healthcare watchdog report has said.

Avandale Lodge Nursing Home, in Manchester Road, was rated as ‘requires improvement’ by the Care Quality Commission following an inspection in December – the same result it had received earlier in 2018.

Although safety, had improved from ‘inadequate’ to ‘requires improvement’, the overall rating remains unchanged after the unannounced visit by inspectors.

The CQC report identified some areas of improvement, and said that residents and relatives had provided positive feedback such as ‘standards have improved following concerns’.

It said: “This visit found some improvements had not been made and as a result breaches [of the Health and Social Care Act] had been repeated.”

The report added: “Further shortcomings were identified in respect of managerial support for staff when the registered manager had been absent.”

Further comments from relatives suggested that staff were ‘caring’ but under pressure and ‘short-staffed at times’.

The inspector found that, on this latest visit, the information given to agency staff had improved their ability to deal with specific needs of residents.

CQC reports cover safety, effectiveness, care, responsiveness and leadership. All five areas were rated as requiring improvement.

A statement from HC One, which runs the home, said: “The health, safety, and wellbeing of everyone we look after are our main priorities and we take all feedback from the CQC very seriously. The report recognises that we have implemented a robust recruitment process and we have also made positive progress since the inspection took place in October 2018.

“We have taken immediate action to address the challenges highlighted by the CQC and have appointed a new home manager, who will provide strong leadership within the home.

“This home is being actively supported by our wider regional team and we look forward to welcoming the CQC back to the home in the near future to show them the progress that we are making.”