AN AWARD-winning Keighley care home has been told to tighten up its medicine management procedures and to improve its system for monitoring the quality of its service.

The latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection of Regency Court Care Home concluded that the home 'requires improvement'.

Inspectors visited the property in Thwaites Village last November, though their report has only just been released.

They rated the care home as 'good' in three categories, noting it offered an effective, caring and responsive service.

But they warned the systems in place did not ensure medicines are being consistently managed in a safe and proper manner.

The CQC's report states: "The service could not always show they had mitigated risk and documentation was not always up to date to ensure staff had appropriate information to manage and monitor risk."

The CQC also concluded the home is not always well led, so requires improvement, adding: "Improvements had been made to some quality assurance systems. However, the systems in place to monitor, assess and improve the quality of service provided were not always sufficiently robust – particularly the medicines management and care plan audits."

As reported in the Keighley News last December, the staff at Regency Court won an award for turning round what had been a failing home by prioritising the personal needs of their residents.

The care home was picked as a winner at the Great British Care Awards for Yorkshire and Humber, coming first in the Putting People First category.

Regency Court is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 20 people. Most of those who use the home are older people with dementia.

The CQC report summary adds: "People told us they felt safe living at the home.

"Improvements had been made to ensure incidents and accidents were robustly analysed. Processes were in place and being followed to help protect people from the risk of abuse.

"We saw that staff worked with other healthcare professionals to ensure people maintained good health.

"People told us the food was good and there was always plenty of it available.

"We saw staff were consistently kind, caring and patient when providing support.

"Staff were particularly skilled at communicating with, and meeting the needs of, people who lived with dementia.

"They worked hard to implement a philosophy of care, which was person-centred and adapted to the needs of people with dementia."

Regency Court manager, Vicky Thompson, said: "In a time where many homes are receiving negative outcomes following visits from the Care Quality Commission under their new way of inspecting, we are happy with the fact our most recent report reflects the positive changes that have enabled us to be rated with three 'good' outcomes.

"We are aware our report is not yet fully compliant, but the requirements made by CQC as part of this report have already been actioned and changes made.

"We are working closely with our regulators and commissioners, as well as our GP and pharmacist to move positively forward."