A CARE home for dementia sufferers has closed suddenly following a damning inspection report – with residents forced to move elsewhere.

Pals Residential Care, in Ombersley Road, Worcester, was visited by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors in July.

The following month, the owner started the process to close the home and in late September the report stating the care home is 'requiring improvement' was published.

It is understood that the county council arranged for the 10 residents there to be moved to a facility in Malvern last week in preparation for the home's closure.

Worcestershire county councillor Andy Stafford, ward member for Claines, said: "Obviously, it is very upsetting for the involved residents.

"Thing has unfortunately happened and the council has done a good job supporting the residents.

"The council has done a good job finding suitable new homes. It has been managed very well."

Cllr Stafford told the Worcester News that the owner of Pals had made the decision to close the home.

In the CQC report, the facility, which looks after elderly people with dementia, was found to be 'inadequate' in its leadership.

It was said to be requiring improvement for safety, caring, effectiveness and responsiveness.

The report, which states that 10 residents were living at the home at the time of inspection, said the service was not consistently safe as people's risks need to be clearly recorded and regularly reviewed and improvements were needed in managing patient's medicines.

Inspectors found that residents said they felt safe and looked after but that some of them, as well as their relatives, felt there were not always enough staff on duty.

The report said staff training was not updated and workers were not always following good practice.

CQC said the service was not found to be "consistently caring" nor was it "consistently responsive".

Inspectors said quality assurance systems were not always in place and operated effectively to ensure areas of improvement were identified and actioned, and that residents and their relatives had not been supported for their input on how the service could continually improve.

A Worcestershire County Council spokesman said: "The owner of Pals Residential Home notified the county council on August 23 that he had decided to close the home.

"At the time, there were four council-funded residents at the home. With the support of social workers, all have moved to new homes in Worcestershire. The council also offered support to those residents who were funding their own care and they, too, have now moved to new homes.

"We will endeavour to ensure that the care and support needs of the council-funded residents continue to be met in their new homes."