WATCHDOGS have urged a Hampshire care home to make improvements.

Marie Louise House Nursing Home in Newton Lane in Romsey has been rated as “requires improvement”.

It comes as in 2018 the facility which cares for up to 51 older people was rated as “good”.

In the latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) report, inspectors said medicine administration was not always carried out safely  and falls were not always investigated appropriately.

They also said that further improvement was required to promote social distancing.

However, inspectors also said that there were “effective procedures “in place to safeguard people from possible abuse and lessons had been learned from previous incidents.

Support, supervision and competency assessments were also carried out frequently, according to watchdogs.

They said the  inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about catheter care, falls management, pain management, nutrition and hydration.

In their latest report, inspectors said: “Medicine administration was not always carried out safely or in line with best practice guidance. Records relating to falls were not always documented robustly. Although management had taken action from our feedback, further improvement was required to ensure all staff had received up to date training in respect of infection prevention and control.”

But they also added: “The interim manager and the quality lead were aware of areas where the home required improvements.  New learning tools had been put in place to improve the quality of care provided. The management team of the service were open, honest and had worked hard to develop robust systems to ensure people remained safe. ”

In a statement, Healthcare Management Trust, which runs Marie Louise House, said: “This has been an extremely challenging time for everyone in the care sector. We have taken immediate steps to address the issues mentioned by the CQC to ensure that we get back to the good rating that we have previously attained demonstrating we are performing well and meeting their expectations.”