Foxburrow Grange Colchester rated requires improvement

Foxburrow Grange, in Ypres Road, has been given a new rating of requires improvement by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The care home was previously deemed to be inadequate following a three-day inspection last year.

The report said staff failed to give residents prescribed medicines and recognise people’s signs of distress.

The care home, which charges fees of £1,400 each week, fell short in the effectiveness and responsiveness of its care.

As a result of the report, the home was placed in special measures and needed to be re-inspected within six months, which was carried out over two days in December.

The CQC, however, has now said the care home is progressing.

It has been rated good in its effectiveness and care, however, its safety, responsiveness and leadership were rated requires improvement.

The report said: “Systems to identify and address potential risks to people using the service, had improved.

“Management and staff had worked well with the dementia specialist team to develop a risk-based approach to effectively support people whose behaviour can sometimes present a risk to themselves, or others.

“Routine checks were now being carried out on clinical equipment, bed rails and wall bumpers.

“However, further improvements were needed to ensure electrical sockets were assessed against the risks of tampering with and the risk of electric shocks or burns.

"Staff were not always responsive to people's needs. People told us, and records showed staff response to managing pain, was not always dealt with quickly enough.

Inspection - the CQC has said the care home is no longer in special measures but still requires improvement (Image: CQC)

"The registered manager had recognised improvements were needed to ensure people received a comfortable, dignified and pain-free death.

"They were working with their local hospice developing training and support for all staff to improve advanced care planning, communication, and having uncomfortable conversations about death and dying."

It also said the service had made “significant improvements” to the management of medicines.

However, “improvements were needed to make sure people prescribed time-sensitive medicines were given these within the recommended time frame,” the report added.

Despite staff being “recruited safely”, inspectors found they were “not always responsive to people's needs”.

It was concluded the provider demonstrated “improvements have been made”, which means the service is “no longer in special measures”.

Foxburrow Grange has been contacted for comment.