A respite centre that came back under Bucks County Council management following a damning inspection report has been inspected again – but still requires improvement.

Seeleys House Short Breaks Centre – which was previously known as Seeleys House Respite Centre until it was brought back under the management of BCC earlier this year – was visited on June 27 and 28 for the first time since the change.

Buckinghamshire Care Ltd previously looked after the centre until a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in April found some of the services to be inadequate, with loose electrical cables in bedrooms and a stranger discovered wandering the centre.

The county council’s contract with Buckinghamshire Care Ltd was terminated and services managed by them were brought back in house.

The latest inspection, which was published on August 22, has seen the safety of the service, which was previously rated inadequate, move to needing improvement.

Inspectors found that the centre, which provides respite care for adults living with a learning disability and or physical disability, did not have a registered manager in place and that the service was not well led.

It also did not have a current fire risk assessment and the provider had not made sure the building was safe as routine maintenance was not carried out.

The CQC also found that clients at risk of choking were not protected.

The report says: “One person who had had a previous choking episode did not have an up to date care plan in place and had gone on to be hospitalised from Seeleys House Short Break Centre following a choking incident.”

Health and safety checks on equipment were also not “consistently” carried out, with weekly checks on hoists not carried out since June 2.

Inspectors said: “Two faults had been recorded on May 19, 2017. We asked staff if the fault had been repaired and they did not know. We asked the manager and they were unaware the hoist was not fully working or if it had been reported.”

The report also highlighted “mixed feedback” from family members about people’s safety, with some saying they felt their relatives were safe there and that since a refurbishment was carried out, it felt “cleaner and tidier” and others saying they would send their relative elsewhere if they could.

However, staff were praised for being calm and “passionate about providing a quality service” with some staff members saying they felt the service had made improvements since the previous inspection.

Following publication of the report, Bucks County Council’s executive director for communities, health and adult social care, Sheila Norris said, “We are pleased that the CQC has recognised the improvements that we have put in place and that we have seen this reflected in the better rating for the centre.

“That said, we are clearly still not where we need to be at Seeleys which is why I am committed to delivering further improvements to ensure we provide a better standard of care as quickly as we can.”