Washington Manor Care Home monitored by council

Washington Manor Care Home was rated "required improvement" in March

A council has stepped in to monitor a care home after it was to ordered to improve by inspectors.

Washington Manor Care Home on Wearside was rated "requires improvement" and "inadequate" for effectiveness by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Issues with medicine management, risk management and "chaotic record keeping" were identified.

Sunderland City Council commissioning manager Ann Dingwall said the home was "making significant improvements".

St. Martin's Care Ltd, which runs the home said it had been "highly disappointed by the rating".

Head of care services Melanie Burnett said it had "worked in close partnership with the local authority and CQC to make improvements required".

'Rapid decline'

The home was rated "good" in 2018 and councillors were told the inspection happened after a change in management in early 2019, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The CQC report said the home did not effectively support people with malnutrition and hydration risks, with some "not receiving supplements to their diets as directed by a healthcare professional".

Ms Dingwall said council officials had found no issues at the start of the year and that it was "very rare to have discrepancies between what we see and what CQC find".

The authority had reviewed its findings to check whether it had "missed something" but concluded it had not, and that it had been case of "rapid decline".

Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail]