A care home is still flouting the rules by not showing a damning inspection report on its website, despite this newspaper repeatedly raising concerns with the care watchdog.

Firtree House Nursing Home, in Banstead, was slammed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in its most recent inspection report, published in March, for failing to provide care which was safe, effective and well-led.

It was rated "inadequate overall" by the watchdog.

But, up until the start of this month, the care home’s website displayed a link to a positive inspection report published in July 2013.

Last year the CQC promised to start taking robust action against failing care homes and introduced a legal requirement in April for care homes to display their "most up-to-date ratings" from the CQC at the entrance of the home and on their websites.

Earlier this month: "Unsafe" nursing home still pointing potential customers to a glowing report two years out of date

But it took no action when Firtree House ingnored the new regulations and owner Salim Jiwa, only removed the link to the old report when contacted by the Epsom Guardian a few weeks ago.

However, he has still not included a link to the highly critical March report, as required by the new regulations, preventing people from making an informed decision about whether to put relatives in the care home.

From March: Owner of Banstead care home rated "inadequate" confident it will not be closed down

A CQC document for providers on displaying ratings, published in March, states: "You are ultimately responsible for meeting the regulation and deciding how to do this."

The Epsom Guardian has so far raised the issue of Firtree’s website with the CQC on three occasions.

Yesterday a CQC spokesman said "we are following it up", but did not give any specifics about when and how.

Asked about its approach to care homes that fail to display its most recent report, a spokesman said: "The first response would be to discuss with the provider, this is a new requirement and while our expectation is the provider complies we appreciate they may not have fully understood the requirement or the consequences.

"If providers fail to comply with the requirement we can fine providers £100 every time we find them not to be displaying their rating.

"It could also cause us to look at the fitness of the registered manager, or of the overall provider - as it would ask the question is the service well led -since they are not carrying out regulations required.

"We could then place conditions on the manager or the providers’ registration if we felt that was appropriate."

In an interview with the Epsom Guardian in December, Adrian Hughes, deputy chief inspector of the South for the CQC, said it would be taking a more robust approach to failing care homes, in a bid to re-build the public’s shattered confidence in its work after a number of high-profile care scandals including at the Mid-Staffordshire NHS trust.

From December: Care Quality Commission boss on watchdog's past failings and more "robust" approach to tackle danger care homes

Care homes are now rated as Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate is then given to the home - instead of ambiguously "yo-yoing" between being deemed compliant and non-compliant.

Mr Hughes said the new system leaves much less "wriggle room" for homes to continue operating while not meeting standards.