Hearts of Care Agency

This announced inspection took place from 6 August to 14 September 2026. Hearts of Care Agency is a small domiciliary care service that provides personal care to people in their own homes. CQC inspects the personal care provided, such as support with personal hygiene and eating, and considers any associated social care. At the time of the inspection, 1 person received regulated personal care through scheduled home visits.

This comprehensive inspection covered all quality statements across the 5 key questions. The service had improved sufficiently since the last inspection and was no longer rated Inadequate overall or for any key question. It had therefore left special measures. However, further improvement was needed in Well-led to strengthen leadership, governance and oversight.

Evidence reviewed showed the person received safe, reliable care from compassionate staff who respected their dignity, promoted independence and supported them to make decisions in line with their chosen outcomes.

Risk assessments reviewed addressed the person’s mobility and health needs, and staff we spoke with understood how to manage identified risks. Records showed staff received induction, ongoing training and supervision to support them in meeting people’s needs. Safe systems were in place should people require support with medicines.

The person we spoke with said staff arrived punctually, completed scheduled visits and stayed for the full duration. They said staff had enough time to meet their needs safely and engage positively with them. When care calls needed to change, records and feedback showed the management team responded flexibly so care continued to reflect the person’s needs and preferences.

The care plans reviewed were person-centred, and staff we spoke with understood the person’s preferences, likes and dislikes. Records showed staff worked with health professionals, so the person received appropriate care and support to achieve positive health outcomes.

Although the agency had improved sufficiently to leave special measures, management oversight and governance remained underdeveloped. Variations in management knowledge and the absence of a registered manager continued to present risks.

Management direction and oversight remained inconsistent. The provider continued to rely heavily on external consultants, while internal managers had varying levels of sector knowledge and experience. This resulted in unclear responsibility, accountability and oversight. The absence of a registered manager continued to present a risk to effective oversight and visible leadership.

Date of assessment: 7 – 16 May 2025.

Hearts of Care Agency is a domiciliary care agency providing care and support to people living in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our assessment the service supported 16 people with personal care. This included children and younger adults which the service was not registered for with CQC. In addition, the service was providing care to people with a learning disability or autism which was contrary to a condition of their registration. Following our site visit we are aware the service has applied to CQC to remove this condition.

This was the first inspection of this service since registration.

We found 5 breaches of the legal regulations in relation to safe care and treatment, safeguarding, staffing, person centred care, and governance at this assessment.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. 'Right support, right care, right culture' is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Care plans did not put the person at the centre of the care planning process and did not reflect people’s needs and preferences. Risks were not always identified and mitigated.

The provider’s safeguarding processes were not effective in recognising and acting on safeguarding concerns. Risks to people were not always effectively identified and assessed by staff and the provider’s management team. The provider did not have effective systems and processes in place to ensure staff competencies were appropriately checked and monitored. The provider did not ensure people’s mental capacity was adequately assessed and that they supported people to fully engage in the assessments. People were at risk of their rights not always being upheld and their decisions not being respected. The provider’s systems and processes did not fully consider national best practice guidance on supporting people with learning disability and autistic people, for example around assessing their needs, wishes and experiences of living with a learning disability.

Governance systems were not effective in identifying failings or addressing areas for improvement. Although the computer system used by the provider could produce audits there was no evidence that these were routinely produced and analysed for themes and trends.

In instances where CQC have decided to take civil or criminal enforcement action against a provider, we will publish this information on our website after any representations and/ or appeals have been concluded. 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 time frame within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.