THE standards at a dementia care home have left residents at risk of malnutrition and dehydration, a report has found.

A Care Quality Commission report also found masks encrusted with medicine residue and residents pacing corridors, at Oaklands, in Forest Glade, Laindon.

The findings represent a decline in standards since a previous inspection, the report has said.

Six breaches of the Health and Safety Act were identified and two warning notices have been issued by the commission against the home.

Inspectors found there had been 28 safeguarding incidents since June 2016, six of which had been substantiated, two partially substantiated and 12 are still under investigation.

The report said: “A number of these safeguarding themes had been identified by us at our last inspection. We found that improvements had not been made at this inspection. This demonstrated the service was not learning from safeguarding incidents thereby continuing to place people using the service at risk.”

Inspectors spoke to staff who told them there were usually three people who spent their time walking the corridors and said they had tried to engage with them but this usually led to threatening behaviour. Inspectors said they can not be assured that staff were always effectively supporting challenging behaviour.

They also raised concerns about the suitability of an unnamed member of staff who was working at the service. Records show the appropriate checks were carried out at the time staff were hired, but there was no ongoing monitoring situation to check whether staff’s criminal histories had not changed.

The report said: “Although, throughout our inspection we observed people being offered drinks, biscuits and fruit throughout the day, we could not be assured that the service was effectively managing the nutritional and hydration needs of people who were at risk.

“There were two examples of these devices known as aerochambers with masks that were encrusted with medicine residue and did not seem to have been cleaned recently. We discussed this with the manager and area director who took immediate steps to ensure the aerochambers were cleaned on a regular basis.”

The service was told in November it needed to improve, but said it was “good” in how caring it was. However, the report published yesterday, said the service now “required improvement” in this area and it also lowered its rating for how well led it was to “inadequate”, giving it a “required improvement” rating overall.

A spokesperson for the home said: “The health, safety and wellbeing of Residents is our utmost priority. We take all feedback from the CQC very seriously and since the inspection back in February, we have put in place a detailed action plan to address its concerns. We are working closely with the CQC and all relevant authorities to ensure that improvements are made as quickly as possible.

“A new full-time manager is now in place, and the home is being supported closely by senior management to ensure that our action plan is carried out smoothly and effectively. We have already made significant progress, which has been acknowledged by local healthcare professionals and the Local Authority, and we are confident this report, published six months after the inspection, does not reflect the service being provided at the home today.

“We look forward to welcoming the CQC back to the home in the near future to demonstrate the good progress we have been making, and will continue to make, in addressing all concerns.”