INSPECTORS were told staff at a Colchester care home "don't have a clue" about care of some residents. 

The Care Quality Commission found The Cannons care home, in Layer Road, required improvement following an inspection.

A report, published over the weekend, said inspectors visited the premises on four separate occasions throughout August and September.

Although the report found the service was effective, caring, and responsive the home fell short when it came to standards of safety and leadership.

The home is run by Agincare UK and opened in January 2020. 

A lack of staff was identified as one of the key areas in which The Cannons has to improve, with relatives of residents saying carers did not have the time to get to know the people living there.

A relative is quoted in the report as saying: "It is never the same staff – some of the new ones don’t have a clue about [my relative’s] care and that can be difficult."

Another mentioned this was down to a high turnover and low number of staff.

"Sometimes I feel like they’re all a bit rushed and I can see that they get very busy.

"They're so short-staffed; they're rushing about, but it's not their fault."

The lack of staff – which has been rectified since the inspection took place – had also meant the manager of the care home had to cover shifts to make sure residents received adequate levels of care.

Read more:

• Meet the man who is marking 50 years working for Colchester firm

• Motorcyclist left with broken bones as car flees collision on country road

• Matt Bloomfield provides update on appointing U's coaching team

But parts of the report did suggest this issue was starting to improve, with one paragraph reading: “Staff told us the culture of the service had become more positive in recent months with a more stable staff team and everyone working together.

"One member of staff said, 'There have been a lot of changes for the better, we went through a bad spell with staffing but it's improved and morale is getting better.'"

Responding to the inspection result, a spokesman from care provider Agincare UK said a lack of staff across the care sector contributed to the problems identified by the CQC.

He said: “We are committed to providing high quality care for all our clients, so we are naturally disappointed with the Care Quality Commission’s overall rating at last inspection.

"The report did find care at the Cannons was good in caring, effective and responsive categories, with people and relatives saying that our team members were kind, caring and respectful."

“At the time of the inspection we were operating under exceptional circumstances with labour shortages, which are being seen in the sector throughout the UK, and these have since been addressed and led to improvements within the schemes, and this is recognised in the inspection report.

“We will continue to embed the improvements needed and will work closely with the CQC and the inspector – we look forward to the inspector’s next visit to demonstrate that the changes required are in place.”