AN ‘UNSAFE’ and ‘poorly-led’ care home that was slammed by watchdogs has had an outbreak of coronavirus among staff and residents.

West Cliff Hall in Hythe has confirmed an “incident” of Covid-19 within the home this week.

A formed employee of West Cliff Hall has alleged that a total of "nine staff and 12 residents" have tested positive for the virus between January 29 and February 5.

However West Cliff Hall did not confirm how many cases the home currently had.

It comes just weeks after a CQC report revealed that the home was ‘unsafe’ and ‘poorly-led’.

'Unsafe and poorly-led' care home slammed by watchdogs following inspection

Inspectors found that staff could not confirm if they had all had training or knew the new, up-to-date procedures of the use of PPE.

Sean Gavin, Chief Executive Officer of Hartford Care Ltd, which runs West Cliff Hall, said: “We acknowledge that there has been an incident of COVID-19 in the home, in common with many other care homes and healthcare settings across the country.

“We continue to work with our local partners, CQC, PHE and families to ensure every measure is taken to manage the risk and safeguard those in our care.

“Residents and some of our staff have received their first vaccination and we will support them to receive the second dose.

“We thank our amazing staff and our residents’ families for their ongoing support in these difficult times.”

At the end of January the home was rated as “required improvement” in its most recent CQC report.

The home, that provides accommodation and personal care for up to 59 elderly people, has been rated as ‘required improvement’ in two out of five categories - safe and well-led.

However the other three categories - effective, caring, and supportive - were rated as good.

The inspectors found that there were errors in the recording of drugs, allergies and care plans, which put residents at risk of harm.

They also said that they “were not fully assured that the provider was admitting people safely to the service”.

As well as this, inspectors identified that despite having a policy in place to check new residents for coronavirus symptoms, it was not being done or recorded consistently by staff.

Staff were unable to confirm to inspectors if they had all had training or knew the new, up-to-date procedures of the use of PPE.

Resident’s relatives raised concerns with the inspectors regarding staffing levels, stating the levels “were sometimes stretched and agency staff did not get to know the individual residents”.

A health professional told inspectors the service “has struggled for a while as there has not been a permanent manager until recently”.

Regional Manager for the home, Emma Jones, said: “We are disappointed that at the time of the CQC inspection, some of the processes we have in place were not followed as we would have expected. We have taken steps to rectify and address the issues outlined.”