Rhallt Nursing Home told to improve by inspectors after zero food standards rating
A mid Wales nursing home has been told to make serious and urgent improvements after been slapped with a zero rating by the Food Standards Agency.
Inspectors carried out their latest inspection of the Rhallt Nursing Home on Salop Road, Welshpool, on October 12.
Following the inspection, the home was given the lowest rating and told that 'hygienic handling of food, including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage,' required major improvement.
The cleanliness and condition of facilities of the building, including the appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control were not up to standard and required improvement.
Major improvement was also required on the management of food safety.
This includes having the right system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, evidence that staff know about food safety, and the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future.
A spokesperson for Barchester Healthcare, who run the 82-bedroom home said they have taken the findings seriously and have already taken swift action to address problems.
A deep clean of the kitchen has already taken place, along with investment in new equipment and extra staff training.
A spokesperson said: "We take the findings of the Food Standard Agency very seriously and we recognise that changes needed to be made swiftly as the report identified.
"Following the inspection we put a number of measures and improvements in place immediately.
"These included a deep clean of the kitchen, the purchase of new equipment, extra training for staff and the recruitment of a new head and sous chef.
"We are awaiting a follow up inspection and are fully confident that the resulting rating will be significantly improved. The health and wellbeing of our residents is of the utmost importance to us and our absolute focus is to continue to deliver a high quality of care’
The Rhallt shares a site with The Lodge, a boutique home with nine rooms that provides care for people over the age of 65.
The Lodge, which is also run by Barchester, received a two food standard rating in May 2017.
