A CARE home which failed to report inappropriate sexual behaviour by one of its residents has been placed in special measures.

Aspen Grange, in Coldnailhurst Avenue, Braintree, has been rated ‘inadequate’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following its latest inspection.

Inspectors found a lack of staff at the home left residents feeling anxious and concerns were also raised about hygiene and infection control measures.

The home was rated inadequate in the safety and management categories, while all other areas were deemed to ‘require improvement’.

A report, published last week, states the problems at the home are due to frequent changes of management.

During a visit on January 16 and 17, inspectors said they witnessed arguments amongst agitated residents, who became verbally aggressive to one another when staff were unable to attend to their needs.

Inspectors said the home was breaching regulations as it was failing to report incidents of abuse.

The report states: “Staff had not recognised incidents between people using the service as abuse and failed to report these to the management team.

“For example, staff had recorded in a person’s daily records three separate incidents of inappropriate sexual behaviour towards another person using the service.

“A record had been made the person had ‘invaded the other persons personal space’.

“As a result, this behaviour had gone undetected, which had exposed other people using the service to a significant risk of sexual abuse occurring.”

The report adds the home has since provided residents deemed at risk with one-to-one care to minimise the risk of future incidents.

Inspectors say residents and their families did have praise for staff, who were described as “caring” and “kind”.

However, the report said a lack of nurses mixed with the home’s failure to have a registered manager at the time of the inspection meant it was lacking in leadership and could not provide a safe environment for residents.

The CQC has now requested Aspen Grange provide an action plan to demonstrate how it intends to address the failings.

A spokesman for Opal Care Homes, which runs the home, said: “We are understandably disappointed by the report from the CQC and have already implemented a robust action plan to address the inspector’s comments, including appointing an experienced, permanent manager.

“We have already seen significant improvements and this is supported by the findings of the local authority and the CCG compliance teams. We are confident inspectors will reflect this in their next visit to the home.”