A FAILING care home faces being shut down after inspectors slammed it for being inadequate.

A snap inspection at The Old Rectory, in Colchester, found there were not enough staff, patients requesting help were left for up to an hour and others wandered the building alone at night.

During the inspection, the report said the fire alarm was out of use for 24 hours and not fully fixed for the next two days.

When inspectors arrived, a patient was also missing, with staff unaware of how long they had been gone for. They were later found in an unoccupied bedroom.

The Care Quality Commission said staff at the home, in Spring Lane, Lexden, were caring, but there were simply not enough of them.

Inspectors visited twice in July, with the report published last week.

Among the findings were;

  • Not enough staff
  • Residents' family cleaned rooms as they felt it was not done satisfactorily by the home
  • Residents wandered at night, getting into other patients’ rooms
  • Essential maintenance was not carried out
  • Prescribed medication, including pain relief, was out of stock
  • Care records were stored in the dining room, with staff admitting there had been breaches of confidentiality
  • Patients who used their call bell could wait between two minutes to almost an hour before they were attended to.

The report said: “Staff did not always respond appropriately and in a timely manner to people's needs.

“A relative told us how they had needed to point out that a bedroom carpet had been soiled for some time and needed cleaning.

“A visiting professional said, ‘Staff don't always use their initiative. There was a [person] whose leg had been injured, there was blood dripping down and no one seemed to notice’.”

The inspector also said staff had asked a year previously for further training but as of the time of the inspection it had not been given.

The care home has been put in special measures and will face a further inspection in the next six months to see if it has improved.

If it does not, the inspectors said they could cancel the provider’s registration or prevent the care home from operating.

It cannot take any new residents while it is inadequate.

A spokesman for Larchwood Care, which runs the home, said: “We recognise that this is a disappointing report and does not meet the high standards we set.

"An action plan is in place and we are working closely with the regulator and local authority to ensure that sustainable improvements are made.

"The home is making good progress and this has been acknowledged.”