A CARE home where staff failed to give residents prescribed medicines and recognise people’s signs of distress has been placed in special measures by the care inspectorate.

The Care Quality Commission, which oversees the standards in healthcare services, hospitals, and doctors’ surgeries, published a report on Foxburrow Grange, Colchester, after an inspection took place over three days last month.

The report, published on Wednesday, found the home was Inadequate and needed to be reinspected within the six months.

The care home, which was looking after 63 residents at the time of the inspection and charges fees of £1,400 each week, fell short in the effectiveness and responsiveness of its care.

More seriously, the safety and leadership were given the lowest possible rating of Inadequate.

Specifically, staff were said to lack the necessary support when it came to recognising and de-escalating signs of distress among residents.

Distributions of medicines took place on an ‘as and when required’ basis, inspectors said, with some prescribed medicines not given to residents because they were asleep.

One person, inspectors said, had missed 74 doses of their prescribed medicine over a four-week period.

A safeguarding alert had also been raised by the CQC after officials said management “did not recognise subduing a person's movements during personal care was restraint.”

The leadership shown by Foxburrow Grange’s senior management team also came in for criticism.

In total, 12 falls were recorded between January and February 2023, each time during the afternoon, according to records.

Inspectors said no analysis had been done to determine trends which could be targeted to prevent similar incidents reoccurring.

Staff said morale was improving, though it had been low, with insufficient nurses deployed to meet the increased demand from residents.

Despite the criticism, relatives told inspectors they were informed and there was frequent communication with the home, saying they were always kept informed.

Responding to the publication of the report, Piotr Rejek, the chief executive and board member of Outlook Care, which runs Foxburrow Grange, said: “We were extremely disappointed to receive the inadequate inspection rating.

"We are extremely proud of the service we provide and what I can say is that we will not rest until everything the CQC has identified has been rectified.

"From the day of the inspection the action plan has been put into effect and we have submitted it where most of the issues raised have been actioned.

"We look forward to a reinspection and our priority as an organisation is to provide safe and good quality care."