A NURSING home has been taken out of special measures - but has been told more improvements are needed.

In particular concerns were raised regarding procedures in the event of a fire at the home.

And the report also suggested recommendations from fire safety experts had been made and ignored.

Joseph Housing Nursing Home, Elm Road, Shoebury, was criticised in March by the Care Quality Commission after it discovered residents were “distressed and lonely”.

It was given a rating of inadequate following the inspection.

While the recent follow up exemption found some improvements had been made, the nursing home was rated as still requiring improvement and bosses were told more changes are needed.

The previous visit saw inspectors told by a resident: “I just sit up here. No one comes in and talks with me. I want to die.”

The improvements saw the home rated as a good home in two inspection categories – caring and responsiveness.

The report stated: “The majority of staff demonstrated an understanding and awareness of how to treat people with respect and dignity, and to support people to maintain their independence.

The further improvements still needed included the service’s dining arrangements, and staff’s ability to support people to eat and drink, as well as the safety of the home.

The report added: “The service was not consistently safe. Improvements were required to ensure staff who had overall responsibility for fire safety at the service were suitably trained and recommendations from fire reports addressed in a timely manner.

“Care plans provided sufficient detail about a person’s care and support needs and how this was to be delivered by staff. People were engaged in meaningful activities in the morning, but consideration was required to ensure these were also available in the afternoons and people had access to community based activities.”

The home did not provide a comment when one was requested by the Echo following the report.