AN £8 million care home that was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh less than two years ago has been found to need improvements for a second time by inspectors.

The Hayward Care Home in Corn Croft Lane, Devizes, was first inspected in May, 2015, just months after it opened and the Order of St John was told it must make improvements.

But a report just released on an inspection that was held in October still gives the home an overall rating of needing improvement despite some areas showing they were now good.

It was found to be doing well for leadership, caring and effectiveness but needing improvement for safety and response.

The home can care for up to 80 people who need personal care and is split into five units.

The report said: "Staff said staffing levels were not appropriate on two units. We saw that on one unit, during the lunchtime meal, the staff were stretched and did not give people attention and assistance with eating their meals.

"Staff said there had been changes of staffing with the opening of a unit and for some staff this had created low morale. The staff said there was heavy reliance on agency staff. The registered manager said the staffing levels were consistent with the dependency needs of people."

There was also criticism of the way patients were monitored. The report said: "We found the fluid intake records we audited for two people were not completed on consecutive days. We also found the target intake was not recorded on fluid monitoring charts. This meant staff were not always aware of people’s target fluid intake and were not provided with an audit trail of people with poor intake of fluid."

There were also issues about the way staff dealt with aggressive behaviour. The report said: "Clear guidance on how staff were to respond to incidents of aggression were in place. However, records showed staff were not following guidance. For one person staff were given guidance to administer, when required, medicines before delivering personal care but had not followed the guidance and the person had become anxious during these periods."

Worries were reported about structured planned activities not taking place and the report said: "Staff said activities were more ad hoc but were taking place such as baking and music."

On a positive note the report found that people observed greeted staff in a positive manner and did not show signs of distress when staff were present. Members of staff were knowledgeable about the procedures for safeguarding people from abuse. They knew the types of abuse and the actions they must take for alleged abuse.

A spokesman for Hayward Care Centre said: "