A CARE home has been given a damning report by a healthcare watchdog which judged it to be failing in every area.

The Care Quality Commission said the Haven, in Harwich Road, Colchester, requires improvement in six key areas.

The home, which cares for as many as 29 older people with dementia, has been given until next Friday to respond to the commission, detailing how it will comply with the recommendations.

During an unannounced inspection, inspectors found patients’ care and treatment were not planned or given in a safe way.

The report also stated patients were not cared for by suitably qualified or experienced staff.

It also found checks on patients’ quality of service were not robustly carried out.

During breakfast, inspectors also found there was little social engagement between patients and staff.

On patients’ care and welfare, the report added although care plans were well written, they did not contain sufficient details about specific needs, such as palliative care, dementia and management of mental health needs.

The report said: “This meant people’s needs were not always adequately assessed or care and treatment planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan.”

It also said no details of which type of dementia patients had been diagnosed with were included in their care plans.

Inspectors labelled the home’s recruitment process as “poor” and said staffing levels are inadequate.

The report added: “It was clear from our findings the service’s own quality assurance process was not robust in identifying, monitoring and managing risks to people who used the service.”

The home visit was carried out on October 16 and the commission published its findings on November 30.

The home was taken over by Comfort Care Services (Colchester) Limited just weeks before the inspection took place.

Parkash Sohal, who runs the home, said every improvement the commission asked for has since been implemented.

He added: “If an inspection was to take place tomorrow, we would be fully compliant.

“The areas we needed to improve were minor and focused on paperwork, which we have rectified.”