A LOWESTOFT residential home for people with learning difficulties has received a seal of approval from inspectors.

Staff and residents of The Laurels home in Yarmouth Road are celebrating after a review of compliance by the watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found the Kingsley Healthcare Group site complied with all five areas it looked at during out an unannounced inspection in February.

The five key areas the CQC inspected at the home, which has six en-suite personalised bedrooms, separate lounge areas and large secure gardens, were:

People should be treated with respect, involved in discussions about their care and treatment and able to influence how the service is run

People should get safe and appropriate care that meets their needs and supports their rights

People should be protected from abuse and staff should respect their human rights

There should be enough members of staff to keep people safe and meet their health and welfare needs

The service should have quality checking systems to manage risks and assure the health, welfare and safety of people who receive care

The CQC report states: 'Relatives told us how happy there were with the care provided to their family members.

'They could tell people living there were content by their behaviour and body language.

'Staff were praised for their knowledge of people's needs and preferences. Staff were described as very approachable, and always putting the needs of the people living in the home first.'

Toni Atkinson, the manager of the Laurels, said: 'I am extremely proud of what the Laurels team has achieved.

'I feel honoured and touched by the comments the families have made about us.

'With all the bad publicity about care providers at the moment, it is comforting to all that we are doing the best we possibly can for the people we care for.

'We have also been inspected by the National Autistic Society and will find out if we have been successful in mid June.

'We have had the draft report which looks promising, the standards set by them, thanks to the hard work and dedication of all the learning disability teams within Kingsley.'

A LOWESTOFT care home has been criticised over the way it prescribes medication, keeps residents safe and trains its staff.

High Dene, in Park Road, which provides non-nursing care and support to up to 15 older people including some with dementia, was inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in April.

The CQC looked at eight aspects of the home and said its standards did not comply with six categories.

Its report says that residents were not provided with their medication at the prescribed times with no guidance in place to protect against inappropriate administration of medicine.

The CQC says people were not provided with safe and accessible bathing facilities, cupboard doors in the ground floor toilets posed a risk and the call bell system was not used effectively.

People's care records were also not routinely reviewed and updated when people's needs changed and there was not a meaningful activities programme that was of interest to them.

The report goes on to say: 'The provider did not monitor and assess the care and support provided to people using the service to ensure that they were provided with safe and effective care.'

It also criticised the home for not providing staff with the support and training they needed to meet the needs of people using the service. On the positive side, the report said that High Dene complied with protecting people from abuse and that privacy, dignity and independence were respected.

People at High Dene also said the building was clean, they were comfortable in their bedrooms, enjoyed their meals and staff were good to them.

High Dene is owned by Subhir Sen Lochun, who said he taken action to address all the issues raised in the inspection and expected to fully comply with the next CQC inspection report. He added: 'I have nothing to hide.'