BOSSES at a Halesowen nursing home have vowed ‘time and money’ will be invested to turn around its declining fortunes after a fourth warning from a care watchdog.

Allenbrook Nursing Home, on Spies Lane, has been told by the Care Quality Commission that it ‘requires improvement’ for a fourth inspection running.

Improvements are needed in all five inspection categories - safety, effectiveness, care, responsiveness and leadership.

The findings, from an inspection in June of this year, were a slight improvement on the care home’s previous report in November 2017, in which one of the categories – safety – was rated inadequate.

And new home manager Clare Booth, who took over at Allenbrook in February of this year, said she is working with new owners to ensure the improvements are made.

She said: “We were disappointed with the recent inspection at Allenbrook.

“However, new owners took over the home in mid-October and they are currently investing a lot of time and money on improving the home to meet all the necessary requirements for CQC.

“And we would like to assure the residents, families and the staff team that we will put all our efforts into achieving a good rating in any future inspections.”

Last year’s visit led to the CQC demanding monthly governance reports from Allenbrook, something its latest inspection said must continue after the improvements made were not yet deemed sufficient.

CQC’s report summary said: “At our last inspection, we identified five breaches of the regulations. At this inspection, we found one breach of the regulation had been met and some improvements have been made.

“However, the provider was still in breach of four regulations related to safeguarding, safe care and treatment, good governance and notifying the Commission of specific events and incidents as required.

“We have rated the service ‘requires improvement’ overall for a fourth time.

“We have decided the provider is still required to submit monthly reports to the Care Quality Commission because sufficient improvements have not been made since our last inspection and they remain in breach of the regulations.”

The report acknowledged the new manager’s arrival at the home – which can accommodate up to 36 inhabitants – and that residents were generally happy there.

But the CQC’s findings raised concerns about whether there were enough staff employed to take care of residents’ needs.

It added: “People told us staff were kind and caring. People and relatives generally expressed a positive experience of the service, although they felt there was not always enough staff or things to do.

“People told us they felt safe. However, further improvements were needed to ensure all people’s risks were safely managed including people’s equipment use and support with their medicines.

“We received mixed feedback around whether there were enough staff to meet people’s needs.”