CQC fines Halifax based homecare agency £1250 for failure to comply with regulations

CQC fines Halifax based homecare agency £1250 for failure to comply with regulations

A homecare agency which failed to notify the Care Quality Commission in line with national requirements has been issued with fines totalling £1,250.

CQC issued a fixed penalty notice to PAJ Premier Care Limited following the provider’s failure to notify the commission within the required timescales about incidents affecting people receiving care and treatment from Caremark (Calderdale).

CQC carried out an unannounced inspection of the agency on 25 November 2013 as part of their scheduled programme of inspections for 2013/14.

Following a review of incident records, inspectors identified that there had been a failure to inform CQC about an allegation of abuse which had been reported to the local authority safeguarding team and the police.

In addition, inspectors found evidence of three allegations of theft had been reported to the police but had not been reported to CQC. One of these allegations had led to the suspension of a member of staff.

In the light of the agency’s failure to meet legally required national standards, CQC has issued the provider with a fixed penalty notice of £1,250, which the provider has accepted and paid.

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

“Every registered provider has a legal duty to ensure that they meet national care standards and to advise CQC of serious incidents and events to enable us to discharge our regulatory responsibilities on behalf of the people who use the service.

“The failures on this occasion to inform CQC of a number of very serious incidents and issues of concern relating to the provision of care, is unacceptable.

“PAJ Premier Care Limited has now paid the fine in full and we will continue to monitor the agency closely as part of our regulatory responsibilities.”

The full report detailing findings from CQC’s inspection in November has been published on our website here.

Ends

For further information please contact CQC Regional Communications Officer Kirstin Hannaford on 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

You can find reports on this provider at: http://www.cqc.org.uk/directory/1-130208388

CQC has issued a fixed penalty notices to PAJ Premier Care Limited, for its failure to meet:

• Regulation 18 Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010, Notification of other incidents

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, CQC can serve a penalty notice when a registered person has failed to comply with the Act, and we consider that swiftly achieving compliance without beginning proceedings is a realistic alternative to prosecution.

Any fixed penalty paid to CQC must be repaid by CQC to the Secretary of State. The legal requirements and associated fines are set out in: www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/20120321_final_enforcement_policy_for_publication.pdf

CQC has a range of enforcement powers which include restricting the services that a provider can offer, or, in the most serious cases, suspending or cancelling a service. CQC can also issue financial penalty notices and cautions or prosecute the provider for failing to meet essential standards. Any regulatory decision that CQC takes is open to challenge by a registered person through a variety of internal and external appeal processes.