A Workington care home has been told it must improve, just months after it was rated good by Government inspectors.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission visited Amathea Care Home, on Newlands Lane, and judged it needed to be safer and more effective, caring and responsive. It must also improve leadership.

Inspectors found the home had breached the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, relating to employing fit and proper persons, need for consent and person-centred care. The report said consent to care and treatment had also not always been obtained from the people with the legal authority to do so. But they did note the registered manager and provider had begun to address areas requiring improvement.

The report said necessary checks to establish suitability of staff were not always completed and people’s employment history and reasons for leaving jobs had not always been noted.

It said: “References had been sought, however we noted they were not always from the most recent or previous employer in accordance with the recruitment policy.”

It added medicines were being administered and kept safely but records relating to the application of some were not consistently completed. More development was recommended to support staff in promoting dignity and respect for residents.

They also noted care records lacked some information about individual needs and care was not always person centred. Inspectors said sufficient numbers of staff were in place during the visit but observed they were not always available when they were needed.

The report added: “We discussed the level of staffing available with the area support manager and registered manager who told us they felt there were sufficient numbers of staff but they could be better deployed at key times The registered provider was still in the process of recruiting and staff had been recently recruited were due to start working once all the checks of suitability had been completed.”

Residents were said to be pleased with the choice of food, although they were not always sufficiently supported during mealtime.

Amathea, run by care home provider MHA, cares for up to 40 people with disabilities or chronic illness, with a ground floor unit for people with dementia.

A spokesman said: “We take the quality of care we provide for all our residents seriously. When a home is rated as ‘requires improvement’ we put in place robust action plans to make immediate improvements and make sure these are sustained for the future.”