A RADCLIFFE care home is celebrating after being handed a ‘good’ overall rating by inspectors.

A report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on Abbeycliffe Care Home, in School Street, was published last week after an unannounced inspection on April 22.

The service, which opened in 2013, was rated ‘good’ in four of the report’s five key categories, though it said the home required improvement in one aspect of patient safety.

Inspectors found that appropriate hand washing facilities were not in place in some areas of the home and that soiled laundry was handled incorrectly, which posed infection hazards.

A spokesman for the home said: “We are very pleased with the positive points that were picked up on in the report, especially as we are a relatively new home.

“Our staff have all worked really hard towards this and we are pleased there were very few negative comments.

“The couple of improvements needed that were highlighted in the report have both been rectified.”

After speaking with patients at the home, inspectors said they had praised the “kindness and caring attitude” of staff members, who had a “good understanding of the care and support that people required.”

The report stated that the care provided at the home was effective, caring, responsive, and well-led.

Inspectors said: “We saw that staff received the essential training and support necessary to enable them to do their job effectively and care for people safely.

“We saw people looked well cared for and there was enough equipment available to promote people’s safety, comfort and independence.

“People told us they enjoyed their meals and there was always plenty to eat.

“Systems were in place to deal with any emergency that could affect the provision of care, such as a failure of the electricity and gas supply.”

The report, however, added: “We found that staff hand washing facilities such as liquid soap and paper towels were not available in two of the shower rooms and also in the bedrooms of people who received personal care. Good hand hygiene helps prevent the spread of infection.

“A discussion with the laundry staff identified they handled heavily soiled linen inappropriately.

“Heavily soiled items of laundry need to be placed in water-soluble bags before being placed into the washing machine for decontamination. Incorrect handling of laundry can pose an infection hazard.”

New soap dispensers have now been installed in the rooms where they were missing, and practices for handling heavily soiled items of linen have since been improved and introduced to meet the report’s recommendations.