A care home where “people were not always treated with respect” has been told to improve by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Telegraph Road care home in West End, run by Achieve Together Limited, was given the rating after being inspected on June 14, 16 and 20.

The small care home, which was caring for four people at the time, was judged by inspectors as “not safe” as people were “at risk of avoidable harm”.

The report highlighted that staff did not always follow people’s choking risk management plans to ensure people would eat and drink safely.

Concerns were also raised relating to the quality of the care plans and risk assessments.

On one occasion, one person’s care planning documentation referred to a medical diagnosis and the support the person required.

However, the person in question did not have the specified condition.

During the inspection, both issues relating to choking risks and the inaccurate and outdated care planning applications were addressed.

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Inspectors also noted people were not always treated “with respect and in a dignified manner”.

The report said: “We observed some staff supporting people with adjusting their clothing without speaking to the person and informing of what they were going to do, why and whether the person was happy to be supported with this.”

Meanwhile, mealtime at the care home was not always a “positive, dignified or respectful” experience for everyone, the report said.

Most patients were served their meals with separate food making it distinguishable on their plates, however, for one person who required their meal to be adapted to manage their risk of choking, their meal was mixed together and became the same colour.

The report said: “It did not look appetising and also meant the person would not have been able to choose to try the different components of the meal or leave any part of the meal they did not like.”

Feedback from relatives was mixed in relation to the caring attitude of staff.

One told inspectors that when walking to the window they would see staff “chilling together [and] not interacting with people”.

The Daily Echo approached Achieve Together Limited but did not receive a response.