A care home in Rainham has been given an Inadequate rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The Fountains Care Centre in Theydon Gardens, run by Bondcare, is now in special measures, having fallen from its previous Good rating awarded in 2018.

In its latest inspection report, CQC said: "The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about wound management, hydration, lack of referrals to other health care agencies and ineffective quality assurance systems."

Three unannounced inspection visits were carried out on May 6, 11 and 13, with the facility assessed according to five questions.

Only one - is the service caring? - yielded a Good rating, with the remainder a mixture of Requires Improvement and Inadequate.

Is the service safe?

The first of the three metrics to receive an Inadequate rating, CQC inspectors concluded that people were "not safe and were at risk of avoidable harm".

While they found no evidence that people had been harmed, concerns were raised about 15 of the 16 risk assessments evaluated.

It was also found that medicines were not always managed safely.

Is the service effective?

The CQC also deemed the care centre Inadequate in this regard, concluding that "there were widespread and significant shortfalls in people's care, support and outcomes".

Inspectors said staff were not always adequately trained.

Is the service well-led?

The final of the three questions to be answered with an Inadequate rating, the CQC found "widespread and significant shortfalls in service leadership".

While inspectors said there were systems in place for monitoring and improving care, they found they were either unused or ineffective.

The metric - is the service responsive? - was assessed as Requires Improvement.

Because the Rainham facility - currently home to 46 people - is now in special measures, it will be kept under review ahead of re-inspection.

A spokesperson for the care centre said: “We were disappointed by the CQC’s findings during the inspection and have acted quickly to resolve the issues that were found.

"In the months since the inspection, as noted in the report, we have made huge progress including putting in place a new and experienced management team who have a proven track record of success across a number of homes.

"We are confident that the new systems and processes that we have implemented mean that all the issues raised have now been resolved and that this will be reflected in our next CQC report.

"We are proud that the CQC recognised that care is Good."