A NORTHWICH care service has been told it must improve following its first inspection.

Anderton Place Extra Care Scheme, based in Sandbach Drive, was visited by the Care Quality Commission in August and concerns were found with the services safety and management.

It was rated ‘requires improvement’ in two out of the five key areas, but was rated ‘good’ in effectiveness, care and responsiveness.

In the report, the CQC inspector said: “People told us the staff were caring, kind and helpful. They said ‘the staff are good, kind, they do a good job and I am happy with the service.’

“People told us that on occasions there had been problems with the support they had received.

“Call to people were sometimes missed, times of calls changed and moved to different days or times. This meant people did not always receive the service as agreed.

“There had been instances when people who used the service had been ‘upset’ by the impact of sufficient staff.

“Staff were aware of how to report a safeguarding concern. They were aware of the policies and procedures available to safeguard people from harm and told us they would not hesitate to report concerns."

The service provides domiciliary care to adults within the Anderton Place housing complex and was started in 2015.

At the time of inspection 34 people were in receipt of personal care.

A spokesman for Allied Healthcare, who run the service, said: “Allied Healthcare is committed to providing high quality, continuous and compassionate care.

“We have reviewed the CQC’s inspection report, which assessed that the service provided at Anderton Place is effective, caring and responsive.

"We note the areas that the inspectors have highlighted for improvement and have appealed the findings of the report in line with the CQC’s appeals process.

"We will continue to challenge the final outcome of the inspection, which we believe is misrepresentative and inconsistent with the high quality of care that the service delivers.”