A BRADFORD nursing home where residents were not allowed to butter their own toast has been ranked inadequate for the third consecutive time by care quality watchdogs.

Malvern Nursing Home in Toller Lane, Heaton, has been given yet another six months in which to make more changes or face the possibility of being shut down after its latest visit from Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors.

The home had challenged the inspectors’ previous findings in November saying it felt the CQC process of ‘self-policing’ did not lend itself to a fair and unbiased outcome.

Last summer it was put into special measures for the first time by the CQC for not letting residents, with complex mental health needs, carry out simple tasks such as buttering their own toast or pouring drinks, but concerns were still raised when inspectors revisited later in the year to see if the home could be upgraded from inadequate.

When inspectors returned in May they found the home had made some improvements but still needed to do more. The home now has a registered manager in place, medicines were better organised with monthly and more frequent ‘mini’ audits being carried out to check staff were following the correct policy.

People told inspectors they felt safe and most people were satisfied with the care they received but not all risks were managed effectively, found the report.

Staff said training opportunities had improved and they were getting support from the management team but inspectors still saw some “poor practice” of care..

It added: “People who used the service and staff all told us the service had improved over the past few months. We saw evidence of a more robust approach around the governance of the home. However, the provider needed to ensure people’s choices and preferences in relation to accessing their rooms and the restrictions on cigarettes. We found the process for managing Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards was not always effective.”

The home will be kept under review and will be inspected again within six months.

The home’s deputy manager Lisa Noble said the CQC had recognised improvements mentioned throughout its report however it had raised new concerns that were present at the previous inspection but never mentioned before.

“We will raise an action plan and we will improve as we have previously demonstrated,” she said.