Care home moved out of special measures by watchdog

A care home where inspectors previously found stained mattresses and unpleasant smells has made improvements and been removed from special measures.

However, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has said The Amwell, in Ashfordby Road, Melton Mowbray, was still in breach of regulations in a number of areas.

The home was rated inadequate by the watchdog in December 2024 and, despite being told to improve standards, inspectors found the quality of care had fallen during a follow-up visit in June 2025.

However, after an inspection in January, the watchdog said the home had improved in its person-centred care, consent to care, and nutrition and hydration.

It has now had its overall rating raised to requires improvement and has been rated good in three of the five inspection areas.

In a statement, The Amwell said it took feedback from the CQC "extremely seriously", adding it had "made significant improvements since the previous inspection".

The home was placed in special measures after the 2024 inspection, when the watchdog found staff were unable to show residents were being kept hydrated and were not carrying out personal care often enough to ensure their good hygiene.

In the follow-up visit last year, inspectors said leaders had taken some action to improve hygiene standards, such as changing old mattresses.

However, the watchdog found the home still did not meet "acceptable hygiene and cleanliness standards" after finding mattresses stained with urine that had a strong smell, stained armchairs and faecal stains on a sling.

During their most recent visit, inspectors found "the home environment and equipment used were now consistently maintained and cleaned to a high standard".

They also said staff were kind and caring, and that feedback from relatives was mostly positive during their visit.

Staff protected people from all forms of abuse and were confident the manager would take action to address and resolve any safety concerns they raised, they added.

However, despite giving the home an overall rating of requires improvement, the watchdog said the home was still in breach of regulations relating to safe care and treatment, and good governance.

Inspectors found that medicines were not always managed safely and governance systems, such as audits, had not been effective in relation to the oversight of medicines.

Clear roles and responsibilities had not been established within the senior staff and team leader roles to ensure consistency and effective communication among the staff team and management, they added.

A spokesperson for the CQC said: "We discussed our concerns with the provider and management of the service and action was taken to address concerns either during the assessment or continued afterwards.

"The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall, or in any of the key questions and, therefore, the service is no longer in special measures."

In a statement, the home said it was "pleased that we are no longer in special measures" and that it had been rated good in a number of categories, adding it had made further changes since the most recent CQC visit.

The home added: "We are committed to delivering the highest standards of care to our residents, and when irregularities were raised during the inspection in January, we took immediate action to address these.

"In particular, we have implemented an electronic medication administration system to further enhance safety and prevent errors.

"Subsequent recent visits and audits from both the regulator and the local authority have confirmed that these are now being managed effectively.

"We are committed to continuing to build on the progress we have made and we look forward to welcoming the CQC back to the home in due course."

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