The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has downgraded the rating of Oaklands Care Home in Essex from good to inadequate and placed it in special measures to protect people following an inspection in February and March.
Oaklands Care Home, run by Primos Care Limited, is a residential care home providing accommodation with personal care for up to 15 people. This new provider took over the service in October 2023. The care home provides care to older people. At the time of our inspection, 13 people were being supported with personal care at the service.
Following this inspection, as well as the service’s overall rating dropping from good to inadequate so have ratings for how safe and well-led it is. Its rating has dropped from good to requires improvement for being effective, caring and responsive.
The service is now in special measures, meaning it will be kept under close review by CQC to keep people safe and it will be monitored to check that sufficient improvements have been made.
CQC has taken further action against the provider, which will be reported on when we are legally able to do so.
Hazel Roberts, CQC deputy director of operations in the east of England, said:
“When we visited Oaklands Care Home, we found a home that wasn’t providing safe or effective care, largely due to poor management.
“We found people’s safety was being compromised because leaders hadn’t given staff the training or support they needed to provide safe care. For example, only five of the 14 care staff supporting people who were at risk of choking had completed the relevant training to reduce people's risk of choking.
“The service wasn’t always providing person-centred care that met people’s needs. People told us staff didn’t always include them in discussions about their care and support arrangements or seek their consent, and it left them feeling not listened to. We also saw this reflected in people’s care plans which didn't fully reflect their physical, mental, emotional, and social needs, including those related to protected characteristics under the Equality Act.
“The home wasn’t doing enough to identify and manage risks to people’s safety and welfare. We saw staff weren’t being supported to manage people’s medications safely or compassionately with instances of people receiving the wrong medicine at the wrong time, and no guidance on how to give medicines to support people experiencing distress or anxiety.
“Our inspectors found people weren't always protected from the risk of infection. During our visit, we saw the kitchen was dirty with out of date foods and evidence of cross contamination in the fridge. There was also debris from refurbishment on the floor and walkways. The home did tell us they had plans to refurbish the kitchen and provided us with an action plan on how they were going to improve these issues.
“We have told the provider they need to make immediate and widespread improvements. We’ve put the home in special measures to keep people safe while these improvements are being made. If sufficient progress hasn’t been made, we will not hesitate to take further action to ensure people’s safety and wellbeing.”
Inspectors also found:
- People weren’t supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff didn’t support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests
- The manager didn't have a good understanding of safeguarding. They didn’t know how to make a safeguarding referral to the local authority or identify what needs to be reported. The provider hadn't made statutory notifications to CQC as required by law
- At the time of the assessment, the manager wasn’t registered with CQC. The manager was new in post and lacked the knowledge and skills to ensure people received safe care and treatment
- People couldn't access parts of the environment due to ongoing refurbishment work. People didn't have a range of social and leisure activities to meet their needs, choices and preferences.
However:
- The provider was committed to driving improvement at the location and had put an action plan in place
- People enjoyed the food and told us they had a choice of meals.