Ottery St Mary care home working to address concerns

‘Staffing issues largely to blame but we are going in the right direction’

Owners of an Ottery care home say they are working hard to address concerns about the safety of residents and turnaround services that require improvement.

Problems with inadequate levels of staff were one of the main issues highlighted in a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report following an inspection of The Priory Residential Care Home.

This led to concerns about the care and treatment of residents.

Inspectors concluded there were insufficient staff to ensure people’s safety and proper checks were not carried out, but noted that team members were generally caring and compassionate.

Manager Gillian Kirkman said: “We have had a bit of a rough time due to staffing issues. It takes time to recruit the right staff because we cannot just recruit anyone. We had slipped but we concentrated on ensuring we kept clients safe and the staff were brilliant and worked incredibly hard at a very difficult time. We have been able to recruit really good staff and have increased numbers overall. We are putting in a new care management system.

“It’s going to take time but it’s going in the right direction, there is a lot of work to do and we are continuing to do it.”