Background to this inspection
Updated
20 February 2024
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection was undertaken by 2 inspectors.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provided personal care to people living in their own homes.
This service were also providing care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, so that they could live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support. Comfort Zone Care Services did not have 'supported living services' added to their service types at the time of inspection, but they had requested the addition.
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was unannounced.
What we did before the inspection
We attended information sharing meetings with the local authority, police and other professionals. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We visited the office with police officers and reviewed documentation. This included staff files and care records. We also looked at some documentation relating to management oversight of the service. The registered manager and providers were not able to be present during the office visit.
Follow up
After the inspection we continued to receive updates from the local authority. We also received updates from the police about the progress of their criminal investigation. The registered manager and provider were not able to participate in the inspection. We have emailed, phoned and written to the provider to advise that an inspection has been undertaken and to request they contact CQC about this.
The Home Office suspended the provider's sponsorship license and will decide in due course whether this will be cancelled or re-instated. The suspension meant no further recruitment from overseas could take place.
We were not able to gather feedback from people who received support, their relatives or staff because everyone moved to new care providers on the day of the inspection.
Since the inspection the service has not provided care and support to anyone.
Overall inspection
Insufficient evidence to rate
Updated
20 February 2024
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.
About the service
Comfort Zone Care Services Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people in their own homes. They were providing support to 104 people when the inspection started. This included 5 people living in supported living houses. Everyone who received support from Comfort Zone Care Services moved to other care providers on the day of inspection. By the end of the inspection day the service did not provide care and support to anyone.
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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We were unable to gather sufficient evidence to give the service a rating in any of the key questions.
During the inspection everyone who received support moved to other care providers. This meant we could not gather feedback from people or their relatives. We could also not gather feedback from staff.
The registered manager and providers were not present during the inspection due to an ongoing police investigation. We were able to review some care records and staff files, but we could not gather all of the information we required.
We could not fully assess whether people received care which was safe, effective, caring and responsive.
We could not make a judgement about the running and management oversight of the service.
We could not examine whether the provision of care and support to anyone who has a learning disability or is autistic was in line with the expectations of the 'Right support, right care, right culture' guidance.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 22 February 2018).
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted due to concerns received from the local authority and police about modern day slavery. For example, poor working conditions and exploitation of some care staff recruited from overseas. There is an ongoing police investigation into these concerns.
On the day of the inspection the local authority cancelled their contract with the provider with immediate effect. Everyone who received support from Comfort Zone Care Services began to receive their care and support from other home care agencies. This included people who paid privately for their support.
The overall rating for the service has changed from ‘Good’ to ‘Insufficient evidence to rate’ based on the findings of this inspection. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘All inspection reports and timeline’ link for Comfort Zone Care Services on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service.