During an assessment under our new approach
Date of assessment: 21 October to 25 November 2025. A comprehensive inspection was commenced due to stakeholders sharing concerns of a safeguarding nature. Prestbury Care Providers is a care at home service providing support to older people, younger adults, people living with dementia, a mental health need, a sensory impairment, a physical disability and/or people with a learning disability or an autistic person. There were 14 people receiving the regulated activity of personal care at the start of the inspection. Due to the service supporting people with a learning disability and/or autistic person, the CQC’s guidance ‘Right Care, Right Culture, Right Support’ was considered as part of this inspection.
The service had taken on complex care packages and had failed to meet the needs of the people at the centre of these, often people living with a learning disability and/or autistic people. Staff did not demonstrate they had the skills to meet people’s often profound needs, and this had been compounded by the poor-quality training they received. Despite people and staff raising concerns, these had not been acted upon. We found that people’s dignity had not always been upheld due to receiving care from multiple staff, and in the language staff used to describe the care they delivered. People had not been protected from abuse. The provider had some governance systems in place, but these had failed to appropriately monitor and improve the service. The significant shortfalls found at this inspection demonstrated the culture of the service was closed and did not nurture personalised, dignified, and compassionate care that met people’s needs and kept them in control.
This inspection found the provider to be in breach of 7 legal regulations. These related to safe care and treatment, person-centred care, dignity and respect, safeguarding, staffing, managing complaints and governance. This service is being placed in special measures. The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we use our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.