Carers at a nursing home were left “in tears” after their facility was handed a damming inspection report demanding improvements across the board.

Canterbury House Care Home, which opened last year as part of the Perry Court development in Faversham, was given a rating of “requires improvement” - the second lowest grade possible.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection was prompted by an incident involving a resident choking at the Tettenhall Way site.

Although the person was properly attended to and suffered no ill effects, the home followed protocol in raising the issue with the watchdog, which then inspected the care home on May 30.

In the report published on September 27, the regulator noted: “Accidents and incidents had been recorded and analysed but action taken had not been effective in mitigating risks.”

It also observed that staff “worked in a task-orientated way” and as a result, “people were not always treated with dignity and respect”.

Daniel Rowark, managing director of Halcyon Care Homes which manages the centre, says staff reacted with “overwhelming sadness” to the poor evaluation.

“There were tears and they reacted passionately because we feel that the rating we got doesn’t reflect the care we provide, not one bit,” explained Mr Rowark.

“It’s very upsetting and disappointing to us all.

“Of all the care homes that we’ve commissioned, this is the first time we’ve received a report with a score lower than good.”

The CQC - the government’s regulator of health and social care services in England - criticised the home for failing to ensure residents were always safe and cared for.

Inspectors also complained the facility was understaffed and that some staff members had no experience working in care.

"Bringing in people at the start of their career ensures that carers don’t have any bad habits coming in..."

But management believe this is unfair and have challenged the watchdog’s report in the hope of getting an improved rating.

“Quality care always comes first for our residents, and before encouraging anyone to move in we always make sure we have the right number of people working,” said Mr Rowark.

“And I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t hire people that haven’t got prior experience in care because otherwise, where are they supposed to get that experience?

“We have our own learning and development team and every single person who joins goes through a rigorous induction process.

“We’re finding more people now are looking to start working in care, and bringing in people at the start of their career ensures that carers don’t have any bad habits coming in.

“Having said all that, we take everything in the report seriously and we’ll be doing everything we can to make sure that the issues raised are addressed.”

Mr Rowark said that despite the disappointing grade, the care home is determined to bounce back.

“After the sadness also came a lot of positivity that in the next report we will do better," he added.

“We truly do want to be part of the community and to be best for people. If we need to demonstrate to the community that we are better, then that is what we’ll do and people will see for themselves.”