A SOUTHAMPTON care home has been told it must improve by health watchdogs.

Rosewood Care Home on Swift Road in Woolston has been rated as requires improvements in its most recent CQC report.

General manager Nicole Summers described the rating as a "grey smear" and said all highlighted issues have already been rectified.

Just two of five categories - safe and well-led - were rated requires improvement.

The categories 'responsive' was awarded outstanding and 'effective' and 'caring' were both rated as good.

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The service provides support to 31 older people and those who may be living with dementia.

The home was inspected on May 11, 24 and 27, and the CQC published its findings on August 12.

At the time of the inspection, inspectors said the provider had not taken full account of the risk of legionella, a potentially fatal infection that can cause a serious type of pneumonia.

Inspectors said there was no risk assessment in place and no regular pre-tap temperature checks or flushing of little-used outlets.

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The service did have an annual check in place in which four random taps were checked for legionella.

Since the inspection, the team has started recording water temperatures, although the initial readings were not within the safe temperature zones.

The manager scheduled an external company to produce a legionella risk assessment, which is set to carry out monthly water temperature checks.

Nicole said she was "completely gutted" by the overall rating the home was awarded, adding that they have "an amazing home".

She said: "The difficulty with this is that no one ever picked up on [legionella] before.

"All of our previous inspections and health audits have been happy with the annual checks.

"Now, we have a company coming in every month to do the water checks, we are very proactive.

"We feel like this report is a grey smear, it seems almost unfair as we have already rectified what they have highlighted."

Inspectors also highlighted staff files had not been audited recently.

This meant there was some missing information not being identified.

This issue was raised with the manager who agreed to address it.

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Inspectors also noted that relatives think the home is a safe environment for their loved ones.

One relative told the inspectors: "We feel that [relative] is in a safe environment."

Another said that staff "bend over backward" to ensure their loved one gets their medicine.

All other health and safety checks of the building were completed effectively with documented maintenance records.

Inspectors said that people received their medicines safely and that residents were supported by sufficient numbers of staff to meet their needs and keep them safe.

One relative told the inspectors: "I am really happy with the care, [my relative] is very comfortable with the staff, they are family."

People told inspectors that they had a good relationship with the manager and that they are comfortable raising concerns and had full confidence they would be dealt with.

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