Concerns over safety have been raised by inspectors who called at a York care home.

Broadway Lodge Residential Home in Fulford Road has been told to improve its services by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after the watchdog found its services to not always be safe or well-led.

Inspectors visited the home on June 27 during an unannounced visit.

The residential care home provides personal and nursing care for up to 18 people. At the time of the inspection 17 people aged 65 and over were using the service.

It was rated requires improvement overall by the CQC – a rating the service has had after the last four inspections.  

After their most recent visit, inspectors wrote in their report: “(The rating given) meant some aspects of the service were not always safe and there was limited assurance about safety.

“There was an increased risk that people could be harmed.”

They found that residents and their relatives were happy with the care being given by staff.

“People and relatives spoke positively about the management and staff team,” the report says.

“One person told us ‘We are like one big family'."

But the report raises concerns over a lack of overnight staffing and shortfalls in managing the quality of the service.

Concerns raised over night shift staffing

Inspectors found one member of staff to be working a nightshift supporting 17 people.

“We were not assured that the staffing levels at night ensured safe effective care in line with people's required needs,” the report states.

An 'on-call system' was in place where staff could call for extra help if needed during the night.

But inspectors said these extra staff members would be ones who had worked the previous night or were on shift the following day.

And so, they found that night shift staff were reluctant to call for assistance.

“One member of staff told us ‘We don't ring the on call as they have usually been on shift that day or are shift the following day, it isn't fair on them',” the report says.

The inspectors recommended the care home to review its “best practice on assessing and ensuring sufficient staffing levels" and update its practice accordingly.

Inspectors also found flaws within the leadership of the home which they deemed “inconsistent”.

They said records managing the quality of the service and audits to support how accidents and incidents were recorded were not up to date.

But the inspectors noted that the care home’s manager was a “visible presence in the service”.

“During the inspection we observed them interacting with people in a friendly, relaxed manner,” the report adds.

Inspectors told the care home to send a report to the CQC about how it would address the concerns raised.

Broadway Lodge Residential Home's care home manager told The Press:  “There are still aspects of the report that are being legally challenged.

“We are still working alongside the CQC to ensure that they are happy with the aspects they brought up with Broadway Lodge, that is regular meetings.

“The CQC had commented in their feedback (to the care home) that the feedback we received from residents and relatives on carehomes.co.uk was positive.”

The report can be read in full on the CQC’s website.