Staff failing to properly wear PPE and falls requiring visits to hospital not being reported were among the issues which led to a Norfolk care home being put in special measures, a report has shown.

According to Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors, standards at Oak Manor Nursing Home in Scarning have deteriorated since the body rated it as requiring improvement in July 2019. The most recent inspection, published on Saturday, rated it inadequate.

The service watchdog inspected the premises, which is run by Caring Homes, on October 8 after receiving information in relation to poor staffing levels, cleanliness, concerns about people's dignity being upheld and poor record-keeping.

A Caring Homes spokesperson said: “The health and wellbeing of our residents is our absolute priority and we take feedback from the CQC seriously.

"This latest inspection was carried out in October and we have been working with the CQC and others since then to make changes. We look forward to welcoming the CQC back to Oak Manor in the New Year.”

When inspectors visited the home, which cares for 61 people, they found people did not always receive care and support and some areas of the service were not in a good state of repair.

The report raised concerns about staff members not wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) as they should and cleanliness.

The CQC report said: "Staff were not wearing PPE in accordance with government guidance and cleaning procedures were not robust. Oversight of cleaning was poor, and some areas were visibly dirty. This placed people at increased risk.

"Some areas of the service were not in a good state of repair. The provider had not made enough adaptation to the service, such as additional handrails, to ensure it was safe for people to move around.

"Although management of incidents between people who used the service had improved, one incident which met the safeguarding threshold and two falls causing injury and hospital admission had not been notified to the CQC."

The report mentioned the relatives gave the CQC mostly positive feedback but several complained of "poor communication" which "raised relatives' anxieties at a time they were unable to see their relatives due to Covid-19 restrictions on visiting".

The report also said that newly-appointed managers had made a lot of changes and begun the process of driving improvement.

Following the report the care home is in special measures, with another inspection due to take place in the next six months to check for improvements

Failure to improve the service before then could see the care home closed.

The home was rated inadequate in 'safety' and 'well-led' categories, requires improvement in 'effective' and 'responsive' ones and good in the 'caring' area.