The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Brenalwood Care Home in Essex as inadequate and placed it in special measures to protect the safety and welfare of people living there, following an inspection which took place in October last year.
Brenalwood Care Home, run by Regal Care Trading Ltd, is a residential care home that provides accommodation and personal care to up to 38 older people, people living with dementia, with a physical disability and/or a sensory impairment. There were 30 people using the service during this inspection, most were living with dementia.
This focused inspection was prompted by concerns raised about safety and the quality of care, as well as information CQC already held about the service.
Following this inspection, Brenalwood Care Home’s overall rating has dropped from requires improvement to inadequate as have the ratings for safe and well-led. The ratings for effective, caring and responsive were not reviewed in this inspection and remain rated as requires improvement.
The service has been placed in special measures, which means CQC will monitor it closely to keep people living there safe whilst improvements are made. CQC has also proposed using its regulatory powers further which Brenalwood Care Home has the right to appeal.
Inspectors found:
- Staffing levels were not always enough to meet the needs of people and keep them safe from harm. Staff were busy and weren’t able to spend meaningful time with people.
- Staff did not always give people their medications safely or as prescribed. Stock levels of people’s medicines were incorrect, meaning some people did not always receive the right medicines at the right time.
- Some care plans were outdated or contradictory, putting people at risk of receiving unsafe and inappropriate care.
- There had been a change of management since the last inspection and another change just two weeks before this inspection, when the previous manager returned to the service. This instability had not supported the embedding and sustaining of improvements.
The full report with detailed findings will be published on CQC’s website in the next few days.