A GREENOCK care home has been graded as 'adequate' in two key areas after a four-day inspection by watchdogs who have made improvement recommendations.

Larkfield View - which provides care for 90 people - was visited by a three-strong team from the Care Inspectorate last November following a previous inspection in April.

Leadership at the Burns Road facility was judged to be adequate in the latest inspection, as was quality assurance and improvement.

The inspectors noted that while quality assurance had improved and a good care plan guidance had been created neither had been fully implemented.

And although quality audits had improved it was not always clear how improvements would be taken forward at Larkfield View, the Care Inspectorate said.

Improvements made included a review of medication management procedures, to ensure medication is managed and administered safely.

The report said: "Staff responsible for medication had all received refresher training in medication management and been supervised during medication rounds.

"An independent audit had also been carried out by Boots the chemist."

Inspectors spoke with nine people who live in the home and nine relatives of residents, as well as 16 staff and management.

They observed practice and daily life, reviewed documents and spoke with external professionals prior to publishing their report.

The Care Inspectorate said that more time was needed to improve all care plans to the required standards but engagement was improving with the re-introduction of meetings for residents and relatives.

The previous inspection graded the care home good for how well they support people's wellbeing, the staff team were graded good, as was the setting.

More recently the care home had also received a national award, The Palliative and End of Life Care Practice honour at Care Home Awards, run by Scottish Care for the care they provide to residents at the end of their lives.

The report said: "To systematically address areas for improvement the service should prioritise them by level of risk and record them in a manner which meets SMART [specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound] principles.

Management should ensure that 'when improvements have been identified they are clearly prioritised and structure so there is clarity over what action will be taken and when', the inspectors said.

The majority of requirements had been met including the provider must ensure that people experience a service that is well led and managed.

The report said: "The service has flash meetings every morning. This helped communication amongst the flash team. Staff told us that they were given clear guidance at the start of each shift with an allocation sheet making it clear who was responsible for what duties."

More time was required to ensure all care plans were improved to the required standard and to ensure that people experiencing care should have the right number of staff with the correct skills and qualifications, the report concluded.

Larkfield View's parent company Holmes Care Group Scotland declined to comment when approached by the Telegraph.