A CARE home manager has been fired after a damning healthcare watchdog inspection saw the home rated as inadequate... for the second time in a row.

Fairview House in Westcliff was slammed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in their latest report, which was published on Friday, after it was discovered that staff were not fully compliant with Covid-19 measures, including the use of PPE.

During both days of the inspection staff wore wear face masks covering their mouth, but these did not always cover their nose, while some were spotted consistently touching their face and their mask.

CQC say staff did not follow national guidance, put in place to help reduce the spread of the virus, and were not protecting people by maintaining good infection control practices.

Inspectors also witnessed a member of staff giving a resident their medication, which included drops in their mouth, without any disposable gloves. The worker then went to prepare the next person’s medication without washing or sanitising their hands.

The team found that effective arrangements were not in place to protect and prevent people who used the service from abuse.

A safeguarding concern was raised in June this year after a resident suffered from an unexplained injury which resulted in them being hospitalised.

Despite this, staff had failed to escalate concerns about the individual to the management team in a timely manner, and had also failed to relay concerns they had about a colleague’s alleged poor care practice.

The incident is now being investigated by authorities and is being reviewed by the CQC.

It comes after the home, on Fairview Drive, was previously deemed “unsafe” after being so short staffed that patients weren’t taken to the toilet.

As a result, Fairview House was put into special measures after their last CQC inspection. But having failed to make improvements during the watchdog visit in July, the home will continue to be kept under review.

A spokesperson for the Strathmore Care Group, said: “We are very disappointed in the outcome of the report.

“Of course this isn’t an excuse, but the Covid pandemic had an impact on the speed we could make improvements.

“Having had two inadequate ratings in a row we are taking this very seriously- we have hired a care firm who specialise in turning around homes in a matter of months, and we have let the previous manager go who wasn’t up to the task. Despite support from us she didn’t deliver, and is no longer part of the company.

“We now have a new manager, who is also a registered nurse, who started eleven days ago. She is living in the home and will be able to monitor it night and day.

“We hope this will also hope empower our staff, who are demoralised after the latest report, and give them confidence again.

“Falcrum Care will be with us as long as it takes for us to get to a good rating.

“Teams will review the home twice a week to make sure we’re on track and a group will come in to help with training for handling, medication, further Covid-19 training and PPE.”