AN Oxfordshire care home has been told to improve by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following its latest inspection.

Inspectors visited Yarnton Residential and Nursing Home and found medicines were not being stored safely and evacuation procedures were out-of-date.

The home was given the ‘requires improvement’ rating overall by the health watchdog following the visit in April.

Bosses at the home, however, have said they are confident areas of concern had since been addressed.

The care home, which is run by Sanctuary Care Limited, looks after 52 elderly residents at the purpose built building in Rutten Lane.

Inspectors rated the home ‘good’ in the 'effective', 'caring' and 'responsive' measures.

However the 'safe' and 'well-led measures' were rated as ‘requires improvement’ by the CQC.

According to the inspectors from the health watchdog, residents who were at risk of developing pressure sores were not always protected against this, while staff failed to regularly check the temperature of a fridge where medicines were stored.

Fire evacuation procedures were out-of-date, with some current residents not included on evacuation schedules, while one person who had passed away was still on the list.

The report also noted that a number of changes in the home’s management had negatively impacted staffing levels, 'continuity of care' and care improvements.

A number of staff had been dismissed since the home’s previous manager had left which had also affected morale.

One staff member told inspectors: “The home is lovely, the managers no, not consistent, which impacts us all and makes us down in the dumps.”

Inspectors said staffing levels and morale had since improved under the new interim manager.

The CQC asked the home to send compile a report detailing what action bosses were going to take to ensure the concerns were addressed.

CQC inspectors will check that the actions have been taken by the provider.

Director of operations at Sanctuary Care Sheila O’Connor said: “While we were pleased that inspectors found three out of five areas to be ‘good’, we were naturally disappointed by the overall outcome as we always strive to deliver the highest standards of care to our residents.

“It was heartening to see many positive aspects of our home highlighted, including how caring our team are and how passionate they are about their roles.

“We are confident that we have addressed the areas of concern within the report and the team look forward to maintaining and building on these improvements.”