By Piers Meyler

A CARE home for people with learning difficulties has been placed into special measures after being criticised in the way it restrained residents physically and through medication.

St Albans House in St Albans Road, Clacton, which caters for up to five adults with complex needs, was rated "inadequate" over its safety by the Care Quality Commission.

The health watchdog found people were subject to restraint without “robust processes and procedures" to support the practice.

The home recorded holding a person to calm them down, which the CQC said meant people were at an increased risk of being restrained inappropriately and at risk of harm.

The CQC also found medication was administered as required "for behaviour management".

This was used for one person on at least 16 occasions across ten months.

It was not clear who had oversight of the administration of these medicines and behaviour support plans did not reference their use.

Additionally, there was no reference to the management of administering "chemical restraint" medicine in the person’s care and support plans.

People were subject to environmental restraint and the deprivation of their liberty without robust processes and procedures to support this practice, it said.

Records showed people were locked in their rooms or the communal kitchen area when they were showing signs of anxiety or distress.

A statement from CQC said: “The overall rating for this service is ‘inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘special measures’.

"This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration,we will re-inspect within six months to check for significant improvements.

“If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe and there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures.

"This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service.

"This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the registration.”

St Albans House was approached for comment, but had not responded at the time of going to press.