The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Mears Homecare Limited in Hillingdon, West London as Inadequate and has placed the provider into special measures following an inspection in December 2015.
Under CQC’s programme of inspections, all adult social care services are being given a rating to help people make informed choices about their care. Inspectors found that Mears Homecare was delivering caring services, required improvement in order to provide effective and responsive services, but was failing to provide services that were safe and well-led.
A full report from the inspection has been published on this website.
Mears Homecare provides personal care and support to 300 people living within the London Borough of Hillingdon.
Personal care services include assistance with bathing, dressing, eating and taking medicines; and home help covering all aspects of day-to-day housework, shopping, meal preparation and household duties.
Inspectors found that the provider did not have appropriate systems in place to monitor the quality of the care provided. Care workers did not have regular supervision or appraisals.
Records of medicines administered to people using the service were not always appropriately maintained. Care plans were not always fully completed and did not identify how people using the service wanted their care to be provided.
Although incidents and accidents were documented, action taken in response to minimise the risks to people using the service was not always recorded.
People using the service had concerns regarding the number of care workers available during weekends and felt that the service was not well-led. Staff shortages often led to late visits and staff working very long hours.
However, people using the service said that they felt safe when they received care and support, and that care workers were caring and treated them with dignity and respect.
Sally Warren, CQC's Deputy Chief Inspector for Adult Social Care, said:
“It is essential that Mears Homecare takes action to address the concerns we identified during the last inspection. The provider has a responsibility to ensure that people are receiving personal care that is responsive to their needs and that they are protected from the risk of harm at all times.
"When we judge that a provider is failing to deliver quality care for people using their services, the provider should make urgent improvements to the care they deliver.
We will re-inspect Mears Homecare to check whether sufficient improvements have been made. If sufficient improvements have not been made, we will take further action to protect people from poor care, which can include stopping the service from being delivered."
Ends
For further information please contact Yetunde Akintewe, CQC Regional Engagement Manager, on 07471 020 659. For media enquiries, call the press office on 020 7448 9401 during office hours. Journalists wishing to speak to the press office outside of office hours can find out how to contact the team here. For general enquiries, please call 03000 61 61 61.
Find out more
Read our reports about Mears Homecare Limited.