A care home has hit back after it was criticised by a health watch-dog for providing an inadequate service.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission visited River View Care Home in Dartmouth last October.

The CQC report found that the service provided by the home, which is managed by High Trees Care, was inadequate in every ­category.

The CQC said it will be inspecting the home again before the end of April.

The care home, though, believes it has been the victim of forces beyond its control.

A spokesman said: “The home has been affected by the two years of indecision from the hospital trust, which caused considerable uncertainty.

“We have moved to stabilise things and to recruit new staff. We’re considering several options to move the home forwards and we anticipate a positive dialogue with Devon County Council.

“We’re concerned about inaccuracies in the CQC report and have formally challenged them.

“We accepted some of the issues raised and have already rectified these.

“We’re confident that if the CQC visited now, and the inspection was conducted competently, then the home would be rated at a higher level.”

The report comes after negotiations to move the town’s health services to a single site in Townstal collapsed.

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust failed to secure a lease for River View after the owner of the building turned down a rental offer and demanded more money. However, the trust said it remains committed to providing the health facilities it promised.

Doctors, the outpatient clinic and Dartmouth Caring were all set to move to River View, where six ­hospital beds and a care home would have been managed by a new operator selected at a recent tender.

Trust chief executive Mairead McAlinden said last January in a joint statement from all the parties involved: “Work is already under way to ­identify an alternative solution.”

The comprehensive 30-page report published last month found, among other things, that the service was not compassionate and caring, that it did not meet people’s basic needs and that the administration of medicine was unsafe.

A specific finding in the report said: “Staff were not always following safe infection control practices to ensure people were protected from the likelihood of cross-infection.

“We found people were not kept clean and on two occasions we found a person nearing the end of their life lying in faeces.”

The unscheduled visit by ­inspectors resulted in some residents leaving the 80-bed home at short notice. At the time of the inspection, 37 people were using the service, but by the time it finished that figure was down to 32.

The inspection also resulted in action by DCC and the trust to ensure residents’ safety. A new manager was brought in by High Trees and the home is now reported to be moving in the right direction, according to Nick Hindmarsh, the manager at Dartmouth Caring, who chairs the health and well-being implementation group set up to oversee the now failed transfer of health services to River View.

A spokesman for the trust said: “Following the CQC visit in October, a safeguarding process was put in place, led by DCC and supported by the trust. We immediately set up an initial protection plan, with increased daily visits to the home to support staff and the welfare of the residents.

“We also undertook reviews of individuals’ needs to ensure they could be met within the care home setting. As a result, we have seen improvements made within the home and we continue to work with the home’s owners to ensure people’s care needs are being met.”

High Trees, though, is challenging the CQC’s report. It has placed the case in the hands of its lawyers and the case is being brought before the First-tier Tribunal, a registered homes tribunal.

A spokesman for High Trees said no date for the hearing is set, but it is a lengthy and expensive process and was not entered into lightly.

The CQC report said River View will need to change its inadequate rating for safety, effectiveness, caring, responsiveness and management leadership to be able to move out of special needs. If the home cannot show enough improvement by the next inspection, then the CQC’s enforcement procedures will begin, which could result in the home’s closure.

River View is registered to accommodate older people who may be living with dementia and/or have a sight or physical impairment. The care home occupies two floors of the four-storey building, which is owned by U and I Group plc, a publicly quoted company that specialises in property and regeneration and which would not accept the trust’s rent offer.

Had the parties reached agreement, it would have meant the appointment of a new management company by the hospital trust. However, the tendering process to appoint a new one collapsed with the talks.