RESIDENTS have reacted in shock after a care home was rated “inadequate”... for the second time running.

When the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected Abbottswood Lodge, in Southend, last year they discovered a string of regulatory breaches, and placed it in special measures.

Now, the watchdog is “taking action in line with (its) enforcement procedures”, after a follow-up inspection of the Southchurch Road care home.

David Southern, 70, of Sutton Road, Southend has a sister in the care home.

He said: “I go and visit once or twice a week, and it’s always clean and tidy.

“I’m shocked to hear it received that report, I’m shocked to hear all of those things are going on when they don’t happen to me.

“The staff are really caring for my sister, and regardless of the report I’m happy with the level of care she’s getting.”

The CQC’s scathing report labelled Abbottswood Lodge “inadequate” in three areas, and “requires improvement” in two.

It also said “significant improvements” were needed to ensure end of life care, particularly for people suffering with dementia.

The care home has been approached for comment.

The report continues: “Suitable control measures were not put in place to mitigate risks or potential risk of harm for people using the service.

“Steps to ensure people’s health and safety were not always considered and risk assessments had not been developed for all areas of identified risk.

“We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on May 11, 2016 and found breaches with regulatory requirements.”

It adds that when inspectors arrived, the provider had failed to display their performance rating following the last inspection, a basic CQC requirement.

Lack of risk assessments were also highlighted as a major problem.The report says: “Where a person was at risk of experiencing seizures, a risk assessment had not been considered to evidence suitable control measures put in place to mitigate the risk or potential risk of harm for the person.”