- Homecare service
Pleasant Valley Care Shropshire Branch
Assessment report published 11 June 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 8 – 30 April 2026.
The service is a care at home service providing support to adults of all ages living with dementia, nursing needs, mental health conditions and physical disabilities. At the time of our inspection, 7 people were being supported with the regulated activity of personal care.
The provider was in breach of the legal regulations relating to staffing and good governance.
People were supported by staff who were not always trained or recruited safely. Whilst people provided positive feedback regarding the care given by staff, safe recruitment practices were not followed. The provider could not demonstrate all staff were suitable, skilled or adequately trained to carry out their roles. Additionally, the provider did not demonstrate an open and transparent approach during the assessment process. Information requested by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) regarding the people they supported, and the staff employed was not accurate. Whilst the registered manager acknowledged they had provided inaccurate information part way through the assessment; this lack of transparency may have placed people at risk of unsafe care had we not identified who they supported through the records we viewed.
Staffing contingency arrangements were insufficient to ensure people received support when their usual carer was unavailable. People sometimes received support from temporary carers employed by the service or relatives covered their care calls. Whilst this meant care provision was not always effective, the provider had managed the expectations of people and their relatives, and they had consented to this.
Minimal systems were in place to check the quality of the service so the provider could not be assured they were identifying concerns to be able to drive improvement.
People had assessments of their care needs, but these were inconsistent in their quality. Where they had been completed in full, they were thorough, holistic and person centred.
Care calls were not always on time, but sufficient time was allocated to meet people’s needs. Care provision was person centred and focused on meeting people’s care needs in the way they wanted. The provider was proactive in amending care packages if needed to meet people’s needs as they wanted.
People were supported by staff who respected their privacy and dignity and promoted their independence. Despite gaps in their training, staff were knowledgeable about people’s needs and spent time getting to know people to deliver person centred care.
Despite the initial lack of transparency, the registered manager was knowledgeable and passionate about the role they had and understood where there were shortfalls in care provision. They had developed an action plan to drive improvements, but this had not yet been implemented.
In instances where CQC has begun a process of regulatory action, we may publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded, if the action has been taken forward.
We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
People's experience of this service
People and relatives told us people felt safe and they felt staff were sufficiently skilled and competent to meet their needs, despite their lack of evidenced training. People told us they were supported by staff who were kind, caring and treated them with respect. People and relatives were complimentary regarding the registered manager and told us they delivered care and encouraged staff to deliver care in a way they preferred. People and relatives told us the provider was responsive in adapting care to meet their changing needs, and they felt like they had time to build a positive relationship with the carers.
People and relatives told us care calls were not always punctual, but this was not a concern for them as staff always contacted them to let them know and always spent sufficient time with them for their care needs to be met effectively. People and relatives told us they valued the continuity of care they had from having the same carer for most of their calls and they were aware the provider would not always be able to cover care calls if a staff member was unavailable.
People and relatives told us they were confident the registered manager would address any concerns they had and they found them open and approachable. People told us any concerns regarding their health were escalated when needed.