A VENTNOR care home, where inspectors said residents were woken up at 5am, has been found to require improvement.

During a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection at the end of September, inspectors said records confirmed some residents were assisted to wash and dress as early as 5.20am.

A note in the handover book said staff should get a named person up, and ‘as many as possible’, before the night shift ended at 7am.

However, the manager at home said this allegation came from an anonymous phone call, and there was no evidence this was taking place.

Manager Gail Falloon-Phillips said: “During our inspection our inspector received an anonymous telephone call making an allegation, that the home was assisting some residents up and out of bed from 4.30 am, therefore, providing non-essential personal care. This was not true.

“A full investigation was undertaken under section 42 safeguarding from Social Services and subsequently closed as there was no evidence to this.

“The staff times were adjusted in July following a team meeting where night staff identified a need for support due to the residents waking and wishing to rise earlier. At the time of our inspection management had not yet booked another team meeting to discuss if the staff times needed to reverted back to reflect seasonal adjustments.”

The home was found to ‘require improvement’ in two categories — safe and well-led — and ‘good’ for effective, caring, and responsive.

Inspectors said people were usually treated with kindness and compassion, however, some morning care routines were not person focused.

Residents praised staff, saying they were kind and positive, and talked to them about their lives.

People living at the home were also encouraged to make independent choices, with one resident able to explore the town centre on his own.

However, inspectors said repositioning at night should have taken place to allow the person to return to sleep as quickly as possible. Documentation did not show if this was always the case.

Ms Falloon-Phillips said Bluebell House provided person centred care and decisions were made in the resident’s best interest.

She said: “Bluebell House continually looks at ways to improve the way we provide our services and feels that the full body of our CQC report reflects the good care at Bluebell House.”