A CARE home has been told to improve by the Care Quality Commission. 

Newlands Hall Residential Care Home, in High Street, Heckmondwike was visited by Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors on December 15 last year.

The report, published on March 22, gave the home a rating of 'requires improvement'. 

The home said it welcomes constructive criticism and will work with the CQC. 

Newlands Hall can provide nursing or personal care for up to 30 residents, some of whom live with dementia, and had 22 people using its services at the time of the inspection.

The inspector found that infection control processes were not always effective.

The report said: "Infection control processes were not always effective in minimising the risk of infection.

"We observed a clinical waste bag not properly disposed of and left unattended in a bathroom."

The report added: “We also observed used medicine pots left unattended and soaking in a wash basin.

“These observations were discussed with the manager who has since implemented the use of disposable medicine pots in the home.”

Medicines were also not always administered as prescribed and records did not always reflect the medicines received by people.

"Improvements were required in how the service assessed and managed risk to ensure risks were monitored or managed in relation to people's health and wellbeing," said the report.

However, the CQC spoke with a number of people during the visit and found that those using the service and their relatives felt they were safe and well cared for by staff, with their needs met.

They were also able to make choices about their care. Staff were said to have been recruited safely. 

The report said: “People were observed to be treated with respect and kindness.”

Asif Alvi, Regional Director of Regency Healthcare Limited, said the home is “naturally disappointed” with the CQC report.

He added: “Their findings were very disappointing for us.

“However, we accept the findings and are working towards preventing any future repetition."

In response to concerns about the clinical waste bag left in the bathroom, Mr Alvi said: “This is when a member of the care team was in the process of taking it to the bin and the nurse call buzzer went off so the carer left the bag to attend to the service user."

He added: “Attending to the service user was a priority and in the meantime the inspector happened to go past that bathroom.

“We welcome constructive criticism and will always work with CQC to attain optimum service.”