The leadership team at a north Norfolk care home have said they are "extremely disappointed" the home has been put into special measures.

Health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC), has taken the action against Clarence House Care Home in Sea View Road, Mundesley, following an inspection on October 1, where concerns were raised over staffing levels, medicine errors and safeguarding.

The facility - which was home to 31 people, some of whom have dementia at the time of the inspection - got a CQC rating of 'Requires Improvement' following its previous inspection on March 5, 2019.

North Norfolk News: Rachael Robertson, director for adult and community services at Cephas Care.Rachael Robertson, director for adult and community services at Cephas Care. (Image: Archant)

Rachael Robertson, director for adult and community services at Ipswich-based Cephas Care, which took over Clarence House in 2018, said: "We strongly believe that the report is not reflective of the current situation at Clarence House."

Mrs Robertson said it had been an " exceptionally difficult" year for Clarence House due to the pandemic, which the CQC had not considered.

But she said due to the hard work of staff the care home had only seen one outbreak of Covid-19.

She said: "We are pleased to say that this was an isolated occurrence which was picked up following routine testing and identification of asymptotic infections."

Mrs Robertson said staffing shortages had been due to sickness and isolation cases, which happened suddenly.

She added: "Recruitment has been difficult during Covid due to a fear of staff wanting to work within high-risk areas such as care and nursing homes, however we are now starting to see an improvement."

Among the CQC's criticisms of the care home were that the registered manager was not always aware of concerns about residents' care needs, putting their health and safety at risk.

The CQC said staff did not always report and monitor people's needs, and charts including fluid charts for people at risk of dehydration were not always filled in.

The CQC added: "Medicines were not always being managed safely at the home. We could not be sure that people were always receiving their medicines as prescribed."

The CQC said residents told inspectors staff provided good care, however: "There were not always enough staff to ensure people's needs were met in a timely manner."