Quenby Rest Home in Brightlingsea Road, Thorrington, has been downgraded to Inadequate by the Care Quality Commission following an inspection between March 20 and April 1.
The previously Good graded care home is inadequate in the safe and well-led CQC categories.
The home is owned Mr Ajvinder Sandhu and Mrs Rajwinder Sandhu, who have been named in a CQC press release. In a statement, a spokesperson for Quenby Rest Home said they were taking “rapid action” to address the issues.
Location – Quenby Care Home (Image: Google Maps)
Quenby Rest Home provides support to older people and those with dementia or mental health needs. There were 21 people using the service at the time of the inspection.
In the release, CQC inspectors say, “leaders didn’t support staff to protect people from avoidable harm”.
The report said: “While people we spoke with and their relatives expressed general satisfaction with the care provided, our assessment found people’s care did not meet the expected standards.
“People did not live in a safe, clean and well-maintained environment.
“There were no proper processes in place to ensure the safety and continuity of people’s care where they moved between services, under the Recovery to Home reablement project.”
The inspection itself was prompted in part by an incident regarding the safety of people.
It said the CQC is currently investigating a previous incident which it is not able to comment on.
However, the report did refer to a choking incident.
It said: “There was no system in place to encourage staff reflection and learning from safety events, such as a recent choking incident to discuss where things had gone wrong, and what needed to happen to prevent such events happening again.”
The CQC found three beaches of the legal regulations in relation to safe care and treatment, staffing and governance.
Staff didn’t have the right skills or training to support people living with dementia safely.
The report said: “People did not receive personalised care and were not protected from the risk of harm, including risks associated with moving and handling, swallowing difficulties (dysphagia), catheter care and skin integrity.
“People living with specific health conditions, such as Parkinson’s, diabetes, and epilepsy did not have detailed care and support plans in place to ensure staff knew how to monitor and meet their needs safely.
“For people living with dementia, staff had not received specialist training to ensure they understood changes in the person’s levels of understanding and had the required skills to support the person to continue to achieve their full potential.”
Quenby Rest Home has started working with a consultant following the inspection and worked with the CQC and health partners to make immediate improvements.
A spokesperson for the home said: “We have been dedicated to providing compassionate and personalised care since 1995, and we take our responsibilities to residents and their families extremely seriously.
”We deeply regret that, earlier this year, we fell short of the high standards to which we hold ourselves.
“Since the CQC’s visit, we have taken rapid action to address the areas identified for improvement.
“As a result, we now have strengthened senior clinical oversight, enhanced permanent staffing levels and training, and a new care record and communication system.
”We will continue to work closely with the CQC and other agencies to embed our robust improvement plan, and we remain absolutely committed to providing high-quality care, safety and dignity for every person we support.”