A HOME care agency which failed to follow safeguarding procedures after two employees had a fight in a client’s home has entered special measures.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected Colchester-based Independent Excel Care Consortium (IECC) in June and July and published its findings last week.

A damning report saw the care provider’s overall rating drop from good to inadequate.

As well as IECC’s overall rating dropping, its ratings for safety and leadership also dropped to inadequate, while it was told it required improvement in three areas of the inspection.

Hazel Roberts, CQC deputy director of operations for the region, said IECC, which cared for 147 people at the time of the inspection and operates seven supported living services, failed to put suitable plans in place after a person suffered a serious injury from a fall.

The report also revealed another shocking incident which saw the police called after two staff members had a fight in a person’s home was not reported to the CQC.

During the inspection, one person told the CQC they had complained about rough care and treatment which resulted in bruises, and despite asking for the carer to be removed from providing their care, they were sent again the following day.

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Inspectors also discovered care visits were not robustly monitored, meaning the company failed to identify if visits were late or missed.

On one occasion, inspectors found carers had made breakfast, lunch, and bedtime visits to one service user within five hours, which Ms Roberts slated as “unacceptable”.

When asked if they felt they are treated with dignity and respect, one person said 99 per cent of their carers are “wonderful”, while others claimed their dignity was not considered by IECC.

Ms Roberts added: “We’ll continue to monitor the service closely to ensure significant improvements are made and won’t hesitate to take further action if we’re not assured people are receiving the safe and dignified care they deserve.”

The care agency will be re-inspected within six months to check for significant improvements. If it is no longer deemed inadequate in all areas, it will be removed from special measures.

IECC declined to comment.