A CARE home provider has been told to make a raft of changes at a facility for adults with autism and learning disabilities.

Devon Lodge at Grange Road, Hedge End, has seen its rating reduced from "good" to "requires improvement" following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which regulates the industry.

Safety and staffing levels are among the issues highlighted in the CQC's report.

It says: "Despite the fact there had been a significant safety-related incident involving harmful chemicals, we found an external store cupboard used for storing chemicals had been left unlocked and unattended.

"We also found keys left unattended and a cupboard whose doors were marked with 'keep locked' was also open.

"We were concerned this indicated a culture of not taking care to secure areas which could present risks to people or to the safety of the environment."

Another section of the report said: "Staff turnover was high and too many agency staff were supporting people, which meant they did not always receive consistent care from staff who knew them well. Checks to ensure staff were suitable to work in the home had not always been completed appropriately."

The report said risk management plans were not always followed.

"One person had a significant health need which required careful monitoring of their fluid intake. This was not consistently happening," it said.

"Staff did not always follow systems and processes to administer, record and store medicines safely.

"One person had been prescribed a short-term medicine but this had been administered for a longer period than was prescribed."

The 12-bed home is run by Cygnet Care Services, which has issued the following statement:

“We are naturally disappointed at the rating, although note that Devon Lodge retains its Good rating for being Caring and Responsive, and are grateful for the continued support and positive feedback from the families of people in our care.

"As the report recognises, like many care homes, the national shortage of healthcare staff has impacted on Devon Lodge, and this has presented recruitment and retention challenges.

"However, we have always been able to maintain the required levels of staffing to keep people safe and, as the report says, the agency staff we have used were competent, knew our residents well and understood how they like their care to be managed.

"We also welcome the CQC’s recognition that our residents received personalised support from staff with whom they were engaged, relaxed and comfortable, and that care was enhanced by the involvement of our team of specialists.

"We take the safety and wellbeing of all of residents extremely seriously and are committed to delivering care for people in the least restrictive way possible, whilst focusing on their strengths, hobbies, abilities and wishes.

"Since the inspection, we have brought in a new manager and are focusing on building the staff team. Our activity programmes have been reviewed with a new activity coordinator joining our team, and we are due to commence redecoration work, which was planned prior to CQC inspection.

"We continue to work closely with the CQC and the local authority and we look forward to receiving a follow-up inspection when we hope to demonstrate these improvements.”