- Homecare service
Your Priority Healthcare Limited
Assessment report published 24 June 2025
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 5 May to 20 May 2025. The service is a domiciliary care agency providing care to older people, younger adults, and people living with dementia, a mental health condition, a physical disability or a sensory impairment living in their own homes. This inspection found the provider to be in breach of four legal regulations relating to safe care and treatment, the need for consent, fit and proper persons employed and governance.
The provider did not have an effective quality assurance and governance system in place and this had resulted in shortfalls that placed the people who used the service at risk of harm. Whilst the two people using the service at the commencement of the assessment had not experienced any harm, systems were not robust enough to fully protect people from the risk of harm. Not all risks to people had been identified and mitigated, and where risks had been identified, the management of them was poor. Care plans did not demonstrate people received person-centred care and they did not contain enough information for staff to be able to provide care and support that was safe, consistent and effective.
The provider had not made every effort to gather all the available information to confirm that employed staff were of good character and had a right to work in the UK. Whilst we found no evidence to the contrary, the provider had not completed full checks to assure themselves.
The provider’s governance system was not robust enough and failed to identify the shortfalls found at this inspection. For example, where quality audits had been completed, these failed to demonstrate they were meaningful and effective. Some aspects of the service, such as care plans and medicines, were not audited.
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.
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.
People's experience of this service
Whilst the 2 people who were using the service at the commencement of the inspection (this reduced to 1 person during the inspection) expressed general satisfaction with their care, our assessment found care did not meet the expected standards or legal requirements. This was because the provider had failed to ensure effective systems were in place to ensure a consistently safe service was always delivered.
Service user surveys, reviews and people’s feedback showed people were generally happy with the care they received and found staff to be kind, caring and helpful. These demonstrated that the service was having a positive impact on people’s quality of life.
However, governance systems were not robust enough and this placed people at risk particularly as/if the service should grow and expand.