Kate Mather trading as KM Care and a company, Family Care and PA Ltd have been ordered to pay £72,190 in fines and costs between them, after pleading guilty to two charges of providing regulated activities without being registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The charges relate to two domiciliary care agencies which were providing personal care illegally, KM Care and Family Care and PA Ltd under section 10 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. The costs and fines imposed by the court for the two charges in this prosecution brought by the CQC are as follows:
- Kate Mather trading as KM Care – Fined £1800, costs of £15,000 and a victim surcharge of £150.
- Family Care and PA Ltd – Fined £30,000, costs of £25,000 and a victim surcharge of £190.
The allegations came to light when CQC were notified by Oxfordshire County Council of concerns a carer had around Kate Mather. Through investigation, CQC ascertained that Kate Mather was illegally running a care agency called KM Care from 20 March 2020 to 1 September 2021, after which she merged with Family Care and PA Ltd run by Kate Mather, Tracie Minter and Zoe Mitchell.
Neither Kate Mather trading as KM Care, or the company Family Care and PA Ltd, have been registered with CQC to carry out any regulated activity.
Debbie Westhead, director of national operations said:
“I hope this outcome sends a clear message to others that where we find providers operating outside of the law, we will always use our enforcement powers to protect people and hold them to account to stop poor and illegal practice.
“It’s unacceptable that these providers put people at risk by running a service without the benefit of CQC registration, so I welcome their guilty plea.
“The registration process is important to appropriately assess services before they care for people. Services are then monitored and inspected to ensure that they continue to meet standards that people should be able to expect. Unregistered services operate without oversight, putting people at risk of harm.
“When we find providers operating illegally, we do not hesitate to act to protect people.”