A care home in Heaton Norris has been given a 'requires improvement' rating in a recent inspection.

Watchdog the Care Quality Commission found residents in the care home to have dirty hair, nails and clothes. Areas of the service were 'malodorous' and people did not always have access to drinks, inspectors added.

Hilltop Court Nursing Home, in Heaton Norris, was found to have made some improvements since its last inspection which saw it issued with a warning notice. However, it was still in breach of two of the four regulatory areas previously raised as concerns.

The CQC issued a 'requires improvement' rating to the home following its most recent visit. Concerns over personal care and residents' hygiene remained, inspectors said.

Some people had dirty fingernails, unclean hair, did not 'always look well-kempt' and were in 'unclean' clothes and footwear, the report added. Although electronic records indicated people were being supported to wash, it was not clear areas of personal care were being closely attended to or that records of personal care were accurate, inspectors said.

People did not always have access to drinks in their bedrooms, while inspectors said they had concerns some underweight people were not receiving enough calories.

Lack of information in some care plans created a risk of health conditions not being safely managed. Inspectors also said they had concerns over what they described as 'significant use' of sensor beams to alert staff to people's movements in their beds.

They said assessments for these were 'not robust' and 'did not evidence this was the least restrictive practice'. The impact of the 'loud alarms' had also 'not been considered', they said.

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While the home had been redecorated and appeared 'lighter, brighter and welcoming', inspectors raised ongoing concerns over the building. They said they found some doors unlocked, emergency cords not set to standards and uncovered radiators.

Some bedrooms were 'malodorous' and there were 'some shortfalls in cleanliness', the report continued. The ground floor bathroom was cluttered and contained trolleys housing soiled laundry.

They also noted there were 'outstanding actions' regarding the home's fire risk assessment, with 'improvements needed'. The CQC said the home had reported these done following the inspection.

However, relatives spoke positively about the services, with one saying: "I've no complaints about any of the staff. The new manager is trying to improve things. I've no complaints at all."

Hilltop Court Nursing Home was approached for a comment.