Essex Care Consortium in Birch rated 'inadequate' by CQC

Essex Care Consortium’s home in Maldon Road, Birch, Colchester, was graded “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following an unannounced two-day inspection in November.

In a report published last week, the inspectors said “safeguarding matters and incidents were not given sufficient priority to ensure concerns about people’s safety were investigated”.

Staff were described as using “non-recognised restraint techniques” which placed service users at risk of harm or physical injury.

Inspection - the CQC visited Essex Care Consortium in Birch (Image: Google)

Despite the registered manager describing several incidents as “completely unacceptable”, no safeguarding referrals were made to the local authority and the CQC was not notified, the inspectors said.

The report reveals the inspection was prompted “in part by notification of an incident following which a person using the service died”.

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“This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken,” it said.

“As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of risk of choking.”

Watchdog - the CQC visited the service last year

The concerns about the management of choking risks were examined by the inspectors.

Management at the care home, which looked after 17 people with autism and learning disabilities at the time of the inspection, was also criticised by the CQC.

“[The general manager] told us, although they carried out regular reviews, there was no formal record to demonstrate how they are monitoring the quality and safety of the service,” the report continued.

“Where incidents had occurred, these had sometimes lacked the full rigour needed to thoroughly investigate the root cause or actions for improved practice to prevent any reoccurrence.”

Despite the criticism, the CQC said the registered manager and assistant manager “demonstrated a passion about the service, people and staff”.

Staff also said they felt supported by the managers, though it was noted “morale had been low due to a big staff turnover” and a reliance on using agency staff.

Essex Care Consortium did not respond to the Gazette’s request for comment.