The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Premier Care Limited - Cheshire West & East Branch Tarporley, Cheshire that they must make improvements to protect the safety and welfare of people they care for.
Premier Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency which provides support and personal care to people in their own homes.
CQC carried out its most recent inspection in October. Inspectors found that the care being provided, was failing to provide care which was safe, effective, caring, responsive or well led. Overall the service has been rated as Inadequate.
Some of the findings from the latest inspection included:
Following an inspection in February 2016, the registered provider had submitted an action plan telling CQC they would be compliant by September 2016. However, when inspectors visited they found that the provider was still not meeting legal requirements and identified a number of on-going and new breaches of regulations.
From conversations CQC inspectors had with people who used the service many said that they were not satisfied with the care that they received. They said that the care staff were polite and caring towards them but that the overall service was unreliable, inconsistent and as a result they did not feel safe. People commented that they never knew who was coming to provide the service
Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North, said:
“This is a very unsatisfactory report. People in receipt of services were very unhappy with the service that was being delivered. There were a number of concerning aspects, not least that people's complaints were not identified and addressed. Neither were people's views of the service always formally recorded and we found no action was taken when issues were raised. It was also evident that people were not listened to and action was not taken to prevent any unsafe or inappropriate care that was being reported.”
“The agency did not keep accurate or update Medicines Administration Records (MAR). Inspectors found numerous examples of people who were not getting their medication either on time or not following prescribing instructions. Care records were incomplete or had not been completed. It was often difficult to establish whether a person had actually received their medication. Overall, the situation with the administration and record keeping was very unsatisfactory and not acceptable.”
“At the last inspection, Premier Care Limited assured us that they could make improvements to their processes to ensure the robust recruitment of staff. People were not kept safe because the staff that provided support had not been through the appropriate recruitment checks. Inspectors saw that staff did not have appropriately completed application forms, interview notes, or references. In one case, we saw that a referee had stated that they would not reemploy a person but no further action had been taken to follow this up to establish why. It was evident therefore that they had failed to follow their own recruitment policy.”
“People are entitled to services which provide safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care. Premier Care Limited has been placed in special measures. Services placed in special measures will be inspected again within six months. If insufficient improvements have been made such that there remains a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures.”
“We have been working with local commissioners to ensure that people receiving services from Premier Care Limited, Tarporley, are not at undue risk. We will continue to monitor this provider. CQC will consider the appropriate regulatory response to resolve the problems found.”
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For further information please contact CQC Regional Communications Manager David Fryer on 07754 438750
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