A STRUGGLING care home has failed to make improvements since its last inspection, the healthcare watchdog has concluded.

West House, in St Vincents Road, Westcliff, was put into special measures by the Care Quality Commission last year after it was found to be inadequate by inspectors.

The CQC then visited again in October 2017 and found improvements had been made which meant the care home could be rated as requires improvement.

But inspectors still raised concerns in areas of safety, care and management - which were all found in need of positive change.

One year on, and the CQC has revisited the care home again and the findings of their inspection remain unchanged.

West House has been rated as requires improvement across all categories, including safety, care, effectiveness, response and management.

The report stated: "The registered provider had not made adequate and necessary improvements to achieve a better-quality rating since our last inspection."

The report went onto state that the new manager, who was promoted from deputy manager and was now responsible for the day-to-day running of the care home, had been given no formal induction for the role and was finding it "challenging".

This included concerns surrounding staff absence, safeguarding concerns and complaints management.

Inspectors raised concerns about the safety of the care home after it was discovered a resident had been injured while being attended to by two members of staff.

The care home had investigated but the CQC found this probe was not "robust" and the watchdog was not notified until three months after the incident.

Residents also told inspectors they were concerned about staffing levels, with some reporting waiting hours to be attended to if they wanted to get out of bed.

Inspectors were also concerned that they were not informed about an outbreak of infection at the care home.

Six people at West House and one staff member were diagnosed with an infectious disease, requiring good infection control practices but not all staff were aware of who was affected nor had all staff been appropriately trained.

The report stated residents felt some staff did not treat them with respect, dignity or care.