CQC requires improvement at Makerfield Home Care Agency, Wigan

17 June 2013

A report which is published on the CQC website today identifies the findings from a CQC inspection carried out in April 2013to follow up on improvements required at a previous inspection.

When they visited the agencies main office, CQC found that the provider, Makerfield Home Care Agency Ltd, was failing to meet all ten of the national standards reviewed.

By law, providers of care services must ensure that they are meeting all standards.

Visiting inspectors reviewed a sample of care and treatment records for people using the service, and spoke with service users, relatives and members of staff. As a result they found that improvements were still required in a number of areas.

Inspectors found that the information contained in service users care records was limited and failed to identify the level of care and support required. There was no evidence available to show that people’s needs had been assessed or that people’s needs were being monitored and regularly reviewed.

The provider and manager told CQC inspectors that they did not have a system in place to gain people’s views and experiences so that these could be taken into account in how the service was delivered.

Inspectors were concerned that some staff were not aware of people’s medication needs, and medicines were not always being administered by staff suitably trained to do so.

A review of staff files indicated that procedures in place for the recruitment of staff were not suitably robust and the provider had failed to obtain references from previous employers before taking on a new member of staff.

Staff training records showed that staff were not receiving the training and support they needed in order to delivery care safely. Only 18 per cent of staff had undertaken medication training, and only 12 per cent had completed training in risk assessment.

Inspectors found that people using the service were not fully safeguarded from the risk of abuse as there was limited guidance available for staff on how to respond to a safeguarding allegation or concern. Staff training was not sufficient to ensure that staff understood safeguarding procedures.

Makerfield Home Care Agency provides care and support to people living in Earlstown, Newton, Rainford and Ashton.

Malcolm Bower-Brown, CQC’s Regional Director for the North said:

“The issues we found at Makerfield Home Care Agency are a real concern and we have told the provider where immediate improvements need to be made.

“We continue to monitor the situation carefully and will not hesitate to take further regulatory action should this prove necessary to ensure the people using the service receive the service they are entitled to expect"

Any regulatory decision that CQC takes is open to challenge by a registered person through a variety of internal and external appeal processes.

Ends

For further information please contact the CQC Regional Communications Team, David Fryer 07901 514 220 or Kirstin Hannaford 0191 233 3629.

The CQC press office can be contacted on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.

Notes to editors