HUGE concerns have been raised about a care home after it slumped in the estimations of the healthcare watchdog.

River View Care Centre in Tilehurst has been branded 'Inadequate' - the lowest possible rating - by the Care Quality Commission.

The service was inspected as part of an unannounced visit in September and October.

A string of failings were identified at the centre, which provides for adults with a wide range of needs and people with dementia.

Debbie Ivanova, CQC’s deputy chief inspector of Adult Social Care, said: “I am extremely disappointed in reading the findings of this report and feel very concerned on behalf of the people the home is supposed to be caring for.

"This is clearly unacceptable care and no one should ever have to tolerate living in such a home and being treated with such a lack of respect, dignity and compassion.

“Our inspectors will return to River View Care Centre in due course to see what improvements have been made.

"If we do not see significant improvement we will not hesitate to take further action to protect people using the service - even if this means removing the registration of the home."

The CQC inspectors rated the service as 'Requires Improvement' when it came to assessing 'caring and effectiveness' - with safety, leadership and responsiveness all receiving the lower rating of 'Inadequate'.

The team found that medicines were not always being managed safely, with no plans in place for two people who were given medicines covertly.

People were not always consulted about how they wished to have care delivered, or were not consulted prior to being assisted, inspectors said.

The report added: "Incidents were not always reported and staff did not always understand what incidents were reportable.

"Information was not accurately updated in daily records. While nutrition and hydration records were maintained for all people this was not analysed correctly.

"As a result, some referrals were not made to health professionals to seek further help on a change to people's hydration and nutrition, specifically where considerable weight loss was noted."