A small care home for people with learning disabilities in Mitcham has been rated ‘requires improvement’ by inspectors.

Care provider MCCH runs the facility in McRae Lane which dropped from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’ after an unannounced inspection.

The Care Quality Commission published its report earlier this month, which said more needed to be done to make the home - which cares for five people with disabilities - safe and well-led.

It noted that the fire escapes weren’t alarmed, which could potentially lead to residents leaving without staff’s knowledge.

Some mismanagement of medicine was also identified, although there was no current adverse impact on people's health or welfare.

However, in many instances, the care home was praised, particularly for its caring attitude.

The inspector wrote: “Staff continued to have caring relationships with people.

“They were aware of how people communicated and what people were communicating through changes in their behaviour.

“Staff empowered people to make as many choices as they were able to and to experience new things. They respected people's privacy and maintained their dignity.”

Despite the overall drop from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’, staff received many compliments since the previous inspection in December 2015.

Some praises for the care home were: "Lovely place. Staff are very helpful" and "Very nice atmosphere within the home. Pleasant staff, very welcoming".

A spokesman from MCCH said: "We accept the CQC’s findings for McRae Lane, although we are disappointed that our service rating has dropped from good in all areas to requires improvement. The care, support and safety of our tenants is our foremost priority and we have already started implementing our own improvement action plan.

"Despite the error in medicine records and stock control identified by the CQC, the report recognises that tenants receive their medicines as prescribed and there is no evidence of impact on the health of the person. Alarms have not been fitted to fire doors, as there was no requirement to do so. We have a high staff to tenant ratio, with risk assessments in place to ensure safety.

"We had already made significant improvements to the property, including increasing staffing levels and creating a new sensory room. This is already having a hugely positive impact on tenants, and the CQC noted the availability of activities which provide sensory stimulation. We are also pleased that the CQC recognised the respect and dignity with which we treat our tenants."