A CARE home in Warminster requires improvement in four out of five areas, according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Following an inspection carried out by the CQC on December 13 and 14, it was found that Henford House requires improvement in safety, effectiveness, response and management, but fares better in the area of caring.

The report highlights that there were systems in place for the storage, administration and disposal of medicine but the ordering and delivering of prescriptions was not completed in a timely way, which meant some people’s prescribed medicines were not available.

Where people did not have the capacity to make decisions themselves, mental capacity assessments were in place and records showed that decisions had been made in line with best interests, but the CQC inspectors found that the assessments were not always decision specific.

There were sufficient staff to meet people’s basic care needs, however people who remained in bed or their rooms did not receive much interaction from staff, other than care provision, which increased the risk to their emotional well-being and social isolation.

On a more positive note people told the inspectors that they felt safe living at Henford House and were happy with the care they received while relatives of service users told them that the home was friendly and welcoming.

Henford House, a detached, two-storey building on the outskirts of Warminster, is registered to provide nursing care to 58 people and there were 44 people were living at the home at time of the CQC’s inspection.

A spokesman from Barchester Healthcare, which manages the care home, said: “We take the findings of the Care Quality Commission very seriously and, in response to the report, we have developed a plan to address the issues raised.

"We are working hard to ensure that improvements in the service are achieved and we are encouraged to see that the report found the service to be caring and our staff to be knowledgeable in responding to the different needs of the residents.

"We would like to reassure everyone of our commitment to provide the highest quality of care to those living at Henford House and to emphasise that their health and wellbeing is at the forefront of everything we do.”