A care home has been rated good and taken out of special measures six months after being judged as inadequate by inspectors.

Stradbroke Court in Lowestoft has now been rated good by the Care Quality Commission for being safe, effective, caring and responsive - but still requires improvement in the well-led category.

The previous inspection was carried out in April this year, when inspectors highlighted improvements were needed regarding safe management of medicines, infection prevention and control systems, staffing arrangements, safe care and treatment and good governance.

Management were asked to complete an action plan to show how improvements would be made and provide regular updates on their progress.

And, following the latest inspection in October, no regulation breaches were found and inspectors said the necessary improvements had been made.

The report, which was published on December 6, said: 'In the six months since our last inspection we were encouraged by the progress made by the management team to turn the service around and have rated this service overall good.'

Inspectors said that people and relatives were complimentary about the care and support provided and staff consistently respected people's privacy and dignity and interacted with them in a kind and compassionate manner.

The report added: 'There were sufficient numbers of staff effectively deployed to meet people's needs who had been recruited safely. They knew how to minimise risks and provide people with safe care and what actions to take to protect them from abuse.

'There was a positive culture in the service which meant that staff were aware of the values of the service and understood their roles and responsibilities. The atmosphere in the service was friendly and welcoming.'

The care home has been told it still requires improvement in the well-led category as the measures in place to address the previous shortfalls need to be fully embedded and sustained before they can be rated as good.

Dawn Bunter, manager at Stradbroke Court said: 'All of the staff are feeling ecstatic at the outcome and the report recognises all of the hard work everyone has put in since I commenced employment in May.

'There has been a lot of change and the staff have been brilliant and have taken on the change with gusto.'