STAFF at a Bridport care home are celebrating after being judged “good” in a latest inspection.

Coneygar Lodge was told to make improvements following a previous review in 2013, and inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have now rated the home “good” overall.

In the report, inspectors said: “Our previous inspection found that people were not protected from the risks associated with medicines.

“Following the inspection the provider told us that they would make improvements. During this inspection we found that improvements had been made.”

Inspectors praised staff for being “aware of how to keep people safe and able to explain how they would identify signs of possible abuse”.

The home, which caters for up to 22 residents, was rated good for the service being safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

The report continued: “Medicines were stored safely and given as prescribed. Staff with appropriate training gave medication and were able to show us how the system supported them to make sure medicines were given as per prescription.

“People and visitors told us that the service was caring. One person said that staff were ‘considerate and seem to know what you want’.” Another person said that they didn’t ‘need to ask them, they know what I need’. Staff were attentive to people and understood their individual needs.

“The service had an activities co-ordinator who planned and arranged the weekly activities for people. The registered manager told us that the co-ordinator had spent time with each person, discussing what interests they had and what activities they may wish to be available. There was a wide range of activities including music and movement, memory boxes and one to one time.

“The proprietor took a very active role within the home and there was a registered manager in post. People told us that the manager was approachable.”

Registered manager at Coneygar Lodge, Louise Van Dorn, believes the family-run set-up allows the home to be more caring.

She said: “We are extremely pleased with the outcome of our recent CQC inspection which rated our care home good in every area.

“Having the acknowledgement from the CQC that our hard working, committed team here at Coneygar are providing an exceptional service to our residents is very positive, particularly at a time when there are sadly too many stories of poor care services, both locally and nationally.

“Running a good care home requires passion and commitment to provide the best possible care to the residents - myself and my team have this in abundance. Being a family run, independent home allows me the freedom to provide a very homely environment and enables me to fulfil our commitment of caring to end-of-life whenever we can.”