The independent Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told the owners of Mayfield Residential Care Home in Devizes to improve staffing.

The regulator made an unannounced inspection at the Nur-steed Road home on October 21 following a tip-off over staffing.

When inspectors arrived at 9am, there were two care staff on duty looking after 12 people.

The inspectors were told that at 10am another care worker would start, a housekeeper worked from 9am to 12.30pm and a cook started at 10am.

The report of the CQC inspection says: “Staff told us they were doing their best and were committed to providing a good standard of care. “They said they enjoyed their job and cared about the people they supported.

“They were adamant they did not want to complain but explained they were struggling with existing staffing levels. They were worried the standard of people’s care was going to deteriorate and they could not give people what they deserved.”

The inspectors waited for 17 minutes for staff to answer call bells they had rung in the home.

The report said a staff member was noticeably upset, that they were unaware of the first bell ringing and were supporting a person they could not leave.

The report says the provider and care director of Mayfield told the CQC they felt staffing levels were adequate, although time management was possibly an issue. They said similar staffing levels were in place at their other services and no problems were encountered.

The CQC said the home, which looks after up to 20 older people, was not meeting essential standards on staffing, nor those for cleanliness and infection control as it had found three toilets were not clean. It did meet standards on meeting nutritional needs and safety, availability and suitability of equipment.

Lifetime Care took over Mayfield in January and director Sats Ahluwalia said all the concerns were being addressed.

He would not say if staffing levels at Mayfield had or would be increased.

He said: “We are continually reviewing our staff and making sure our care needs are at a high standard. We carry out strict quality audits. The staffing rota has been changed. We have given the CQC an action plan. I will leave no stone unturned for the benefit and quality of our service users.”