A Felixstowe care home has been taken out of special measures after a follow-up report by the government’s Care Quality Commission.

St Mary’s Nursing Home on Undercliff Road East was visited by inspectors three times last year including an inspection in January 2015 which rated the service inadequate.

A follow-up inspection in September last year found that improvements had not been made quickly enough and the nursing home was put into special measures by the CQC.

This meant the commission kept a closer eye on the way it was run, and this was followed up by another inspection in June.

That rated the home as “requires improvement” – a higher rating than before – and took it out of special measures.

However it made it clear that it wants to see improvements made in the last year embedded into the culture of the home and for further improvements to be made.

Proprietor Dr Rema Jayarajan was pleased that the report recognised the work over the last year: “We have seen considerable improvements and these have meant we have been taken out of special measures.

“But there is still more we are doing – and they wanted to see that the improvements continue over a longer period.

“We look forward to getting a higher rating in our next inspection as the improvements continue.”

The report said there had been significant improvements in the way the home was run, in staff training, and in staffing numbers – however it wanted to see how these and further improvements were embedded into the nursing home’s operations before it could raise its rating higher.

A new manager had been appointed since last year’s inspections and the report said that the feedback about the new appointment had been positive – he had identified where the problems existed at the home.

Improvements had been made to the way drugs were given to patients, and the dietary needs of all patients were assessed to make sure they got the nutrition they needed.

Staffing numbers had been reorganised to make sure they best met the needs of patients.

However many of the changes had not yet been embedded into working practices at the home and there was a need for further checks.