Archived: Patmark Gentle Care Limited

Updated 24 January 2018

This inspection took place on 19 October 2017 and was unannounced. The service was registered on 8 June 2017. We reviewed information we had received since then about the service such as notifications. This is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We also looked at information sent to us from other stakeholders, for example the local authority and members of the public. The inspection was prompted following concerns raised by the Commissioners of the service which identified that people were not receiving a safe, quality service. This inspection examined those risks. It was undertaken by two inspectors.

We did not speak with any people who used the service directly, however we did receive feedback via local authority staff who had been completing reviews for six people using the service.

To help us assess how people’s care needs were being met we reviewed three care records and other information, for example their risk assessments and medicines records.

We spoke with the registered manager and a Director / Owner of the service. We also spoke with four other members of staff. We looked at four staff personnel files and records relating to the management of the service. This included visit plans, training records, competency assessments, disciplinary records and Disclosure and Barring (DBS) checks.

Updated 24 January 2018

This was an unannounced focused inspection of Patmark Gentle Care Limited on 19 October 2017. This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to adults and older people, supporting a range of needs including people living dementia, cancer, terminal illness, Parkinson, physical and mental health needs. At the time of the inspection 11 people were using the service.

Patmark Gentle Care Limited was registered with the Care Quality Commission 8 June 2017. To enable us to rate a service and answer the five questions is the service; safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led, we need at least six months. This allows for Patmark Gentle Care Limited to establish and embed their policies and procedures, and for us to gain an overview on how the service has been running / developing over a period of time. However due to concerns we received from the Commissioners of the service, and following a meeting with the provider’s representatives on the 17 October 2017, we were not confidant that people were receiving a safe service. Therefore we carried out a focused inspection on 19 October 2017 to review two areas of the service; Safe and Well led.

During the inspection we found that the registered provider was in breach of multiple regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We found that the provider was unable to demonstrate that they had robust systems in place to ensure people were receiving safe care and support. In addition their oversight and governance arrangements did not support the effective running of the service.

A breakdown in the working relationship and trust within the leadership team, had resulted in a blame culture, and impacted on their ability to put effective action in place. People were at risk of harm due to missed and/or late visits, untrained/inexperienced staff, unsafe recruitment processes and a failure to fully assess the risks related to people’s complex needs.

As a result we took immediate urgent action to the provider regulated activity for three months, to give them an opportunity to make improvements and not placing people at risk from receiving inappropriate or unsafe care. Essex County Council have since supported all those using the service to move to an alternative provider. We will continue to review this service and the suspension.