THREE Stourbridge care homes have been told they need to improve after inspections by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Kingswinford home Riverside Care Centre, Prestwood House, in Prestwood, and Pedmore’s Woodlands Gate Rest Home were given ‘requires improvement’ ratings after unannounced inspections.

Prestwood House, in Wolverhampton Road, was visited last November and found the need to improve its safety, effectiveness, leadership and response consistency.

A CQC report said procedures around medication and manual handling were not always followed, care was not always personalised to residents’ individual needs and auditing failed to highlight necessary improvements.

Inspectors found the home had an effective staff recruitment process, staff were supported in their roles and systems were in place to help drive improvement and the home scored a good rating in the caring section of the report.

Jayne Tatler, Prestwood House care manager, said: “We were very disappointed with the overall rating from the CQC as we feel there were also an awful lot of positives in the report.

“A lot of the issues raised were addressed on the day with the inspectors and we have only had to make minor improvements throughout the home.”

Woodlands Gate Rest Home, in Dingle Road, was visited in March, and inspectors found the service was not safe, effective, caring, responsive or consistently well-lead.

Their report said staff had not always sought medical advice following accidents, arrangements in place did not ensure people would be protected from the risk of harm or abuse and at times there was a lack of consideration of people’s needs.

The CQC added: “At our last inspection in October 2013 we found the provider had breached the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in relation to the care and welfare of people and staffing.

“At this inspection we found that improvements had been made and that there were no breaches of those regulations. However some improvements were identified.”

Nitin Tank, director of SCL Care, service provider at the home, said: “I would like to give you our assurance that all the issues relating to non-compliance have been dealt with as a matter of priority.

“The inspection came at a time when, as mentioned within the report, our new manager had only just commenced working at Woodlands Gate, and consequentially CQC saw the home whilst it was still undergoing a process of change and improvement, since that time the manager, staff and the home have made great progress.”

Riverside Care Centre, in Wolverhampton Road, was visited twice in April and found to need improvement in safety, effectiveness, and leadership practices.

The CQC said service was not always safe as there were too few staff on shift, they were not receiving the support they needed to ensure people’s needs were met and the provider was not carrying out effective checks on the quality of the service.

The home was however rated as good in the responsive and caring sections of the report, stating people’s independence, privacy and dignity was respected and the equality and diversity needs of people were being met.

A Four Seasons spokesperson said: “We are sorry that some aspects of our care fell below the standards we expect to provide and we have been making improvements.

“We will carry out more regular reviews of care plans including screening of health needs.

“We are reinforcing our quality audit procedures and supervision and ensuring staff have training to enhance their care skills.”