Grimsby homecare agency is rated as Inadequate by the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Farringford Care Limited that they must make urgent improvements to the standards of care being provided to people using the service.

During unannounced inspections in June this year, inspectors found that the agency was failing to provide care which was safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs or well led.

Under CQC’s programme of inspections, all adult social care services are being given a rating to help people choose care. Overall, Farringford Care Limited has been rated as Inadequate.

Farringford Care Limited provides care and support for people living in their own homes in the Grimsby and Cleethorpes area.

A full report from the inspection has been published on the CQC website: www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-127591313.

The report highlights a number of areas of concern, including:

• The service was placing people at risk because there was insufficient staff to ensure that people’s care and support needs could be met. Staffing rotas showed that some calls were missed due to staff shortages.
• Staff training in how to protect people from abuse was not up to date and inspectors found evidence of incidents having occurred which had not been reported to the local authority safeguarding team or CQC.
• People were not protected against the risks associated with medicines because the registered provider did not have appropriate arrangements in place for the safe administration and management of medication.
• Care plans were not updated and failed to provide sufficient detail to guide staff in how they could meet people's needs. People did not always receive the care they required.
• Inspectors found evidence of poor infection control practices and unsafe moving and handling techniques having been used by staff.
• Policies and procedures in place had not been reviewed or updated and were not followed by the management team and systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of service that people received were ineffective.

Debbie Westhead, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North, said:

“Whilst we received some positive comments from people using the service, inspectors identified some serious concerns regarding the use of unsafe practices and a failure to ensure people’s needs were met.

“Systems should be in place to monitor the quality of the service, and it is of significant concern that Farringford Care Limited did not have such systems in place to halt the deterioration in the service.

“Since the inspection we have been working closely with the local authority and local commissioners to ensure that people being provided support are not at risk. We have placed the agency in special measures and made it clear where action must be taken to address the concerns identified.

“We will re-inspect within six months to check whether sufficient improvements have been made. If we find that the service being provided remains inadequate, we will consider taking further steps to cancel its registration with CQC."

Ends

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