‘Serious concerns’ have prompted the Care Inspectorate to issue an improvement notice on Knowesouth Care Centre, near Denholm.
The home, which provides care for up to 50 residents, has had a self-imposed restriction on new admissions since the first in a series of damning inspection reports in May 2013.
Following the most recent inspection, in November, the Care Inspectorate graded the service ‘weak’ in two areas and ‘unsatisfactory’ in the other two.
As a result of the inspection, and lack of progress following the imposition of a series of requirements after an inspection in September, an improvement notice was served last month.
A Care Inspectorate spokesman said: “We carried out an unannounced inspection of this service in November and that inspection raised serious concerns.
“As a result of our investigation the service was served with a formal improvement notice on December 6 which lays out how we require this service to improve.
“The health, safety and well-being of residents is our primary concern and unless significant improvement is made we will not hesitate to take further action.”
A further inspection will be made some time after January 13, which is the deadline for the necessary improvements to be made.
If they are not made, the Care Inspectorate will seek to remove the care home’s registration to operate.
The improvement notice centres on three areas: staffing levels, management and leadership, and personal plans.
A spokesperson for Knowesouth owners said: “St Philip’s Care is committed in providing the highest standards of care and quality to all the residents we care for.
“We accept there have been some issues and concerns which have resulted in the Care Inspectorate issuing an improvement notice, which is regretful.
“In conjunction with the council we have detailed action plans in place to address these issues.”
The spokesperson added that the firm was committed to ensuring that the improvement notice is met, and had already met requirements contained in the last inspection report.