Chichester care provider ceases operations after inspectors identify concerns

28 September 2011

Following a recent inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), inspectors found the care provided was falling far short of the essential standards of quality and safety people should be able to expect.

Caring for You (Chichester) Ltd is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care, support and assistance to people in their own homes. It provides services to people living in the Chichester, Arundel and surrounding area from the office base in the city centre.

Following a series of visits to Caring for You (Chichester) Ltd, CQC inspectors told the provider they judged people using the service to be at risk and would take urgent action to protect them as a result. In response, Caring for You (Chichester) Ltd agreed to voluntary cancellation of its registration. CQC registration is the legal licence for all health and social care providers to operate.

Alternative care was arranged for funded service users before the service closed and CQC worked closely with the local authority throughout the closure. West Sussex County Council assumed responsibility for all the people using the service - both local authority funded and private - and made arrangements to transfer care to another provider with minimal disruption.

CQC found Caring for You (Chichester) Ltd was not compliant with any of the essential standards of quality and safety and there were 10 major concerns.

Inspectors reported a range of concerns including staff lacking skills and experience, low staffing levels, poor documentation and peoples’ complaints not being recorded or resolved. The major concerns are below.

Co-operating with other providers

Inspectors heard staff give a falsely positive report of improvements being made to professionals from the safeguarding team and the commissioning team at West Sussex County Council. This put people at risk because the agencies responsible for scrutiny of the service and funding of placements could not monitor the care given without accurate information.

Safeguarding people

There were documents relating to possible theft of large sums of money from people who use the service and instances where care documents were falsified. These had not been fully investigated or followed up and the final outcome had not been properly recorded. Although there was evidence of some disciplinary action being initiated, there was no evidence of a proper investigation and rationale for action.

Management of medicines

There were two complaints relating to evening medication being either missed or given too early as care staff made their last visit at 4-4.30 pm. CQC inspectors had major concerns about the level of medication errors and the lack of proper staff training. People were also not provided with assistance to take their medicines safely.

Roxy Boyce, Regional Director of CQC in the South East, said: “The service provided by Caring for You (Chichester) Ltd has fallen far short of the standards people have a right to expect. This is very disturbing when you consider that many of those affected are frail and vulnerable people.

“CQC found clear evidence that the provider was not maintaining essential standards of quality and safety, meaning that people were exposed to significant risk of harm. Working with the local authority, we have now ensured the appropriate action has been taken to ensure that people are protected.

“The law says these are the standards that everyone should be able to expect when they receive care. Providers have a duty to ensure they are compliant – or face the consequences.”

Ends

For further information please contact the CQC press office on 0207 448 9239 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.

Notes to editors