'Serious risk' found at Ashcroft Care Home

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Ash Croft Care Home, Eight Ash Green
Image caption,
The privately-run home in Eight Ash Green had 25 residents.

Dementia patients at a care home had access to a hammer and saw which put them at "serious risk", it has emerged.

Essex County Council removed its residents from the Ashcroft Care Home near Colchester late last year.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has now revealed a string of issues including staff working in the UK illegally and a dead patient's drugs used to prop open a door.

The home's owner has not been available for comment.

The report follows earlier concerns voiced by the CQC about patients' requests for food going unanswered at the home, in Eight Ash Green.

The inspectors said: "The laundry was left open and accessible with access to dangerous tools (a saw and a hammer).

"Mattresses and other bedding were piled up in the laundry and we were told they were waiting to be put into a skip,

'Unpleasant smell'

"Staff told us that there were seven people who were able to move around the service independently.

"We saw that these people had access to the laundry and stairs which meant they were at serious risk of an incident or accident occurring.

"We observed the door to the staff room being propped open with a large box of medicines.

"The registered manager told us that these medicines belonged to a person recently deceased and these were waiting to be returned to the pharmacist."

Officials also said water coming out of a tap in one room was too hot and the home had an "unpleasant smell".

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