The Care Quality Commission has rated a Peterborough-based domiciliary care agency inadequate and placed it in special measures, following an inspection undertaken in May and June.
CQC inspected Regional Care Peterborough due to concerns about missed care calls.
It found the service, which cared for 80 people in their own homes at the time of the inspection, was not providing standards of care people have a right to expect.
In addition to rating it inadequate overall following the inspection, CQC rated the service inadequate for being safe and well-led. It rated it requires improvement for being effective, caring and responsive to people’s needs.
CQC also served the provider of the service a warning notice, requiring it to ensure its staff take lateral flow tests in line with government COVID-19 guidance.
CQC also placed the service in special measures. This means it will be kept under close review, and it could be subject to further enforcement action if improvements are not urgently made.
Louise Broddle, CQC head of inspection for adult social care, said:
“People using Regional Care Peterborough were not receiving a consistently good service and risks to their health and wellbeing were not always well managed.
“This included a failure to ensure home visits took place at planned times, meaning people expecting personal care – such as help with eating, personal hygiene and medication – did not always receive care when they expected.
“We were also not confident peoples’ medicines were managed as prescribed.
“We also found staff were not using lateral flow tests as directed by the government to protect people from COVID-19, however leaders took immediate action after we raised this issue.
“Behind these issues was a lack of good management from the service’s leaders through quality assurance monitoring and recruitment checks for new staff.
“As we have placed this service in special measures, it will be kept under close review and re-inspected in the coming months.
“If we are not satisfied people are receiving the safe and effective care that they have a right to expect, we will take further action against the provider of the service to ensure people’s safety.”
The inspection found:
- Staff were not undertaking twice-weekly lateral flow tests to prevent the spread of COVID-19, as required by government guidance. Not all staff had completed training in the correct procedures for putting on and taking off personal protective equipment. Although the provider had a COVID-19 risk assessment, this had not been completed to see if improvements were needed
- The process to deal with staff absence had not always been followed to ensure people received care when they needed it. Some people consequently experienced missed and late calls
- Inspectors were not confident people’s medicines were administered as prescribed. Medication audits had not identified all issues with medicine administration records and care plans did not accurately reflect medicine administration requirements, meaning there was a lack of guidance for staff to complete tasks
- Staff recruitment files were incomplete, meaning a robust and thorough recruitment process to safeguard people could not be demonstrated. This included a failure to explore employment gaps
- People were not always treated with respect by the provider because systems to keep people safe from harm were not always in place or followed. Risk assessments and care plans did not contain enough information to ensure people’s safety
- Complaints were not always dealt with in an appropriate or timely manner
- There was a significant lack of effective management. This adversely impacted care people received and the safety of staff. The governance system used to monitor the quality of the care and support being given was not robust enough and record keeping was poor.
However:
- The registered manager was transparent and took on board feedback delivered during the inspection
- Leaders regularly asked staff for their feedback and suggestions. Most staff told us their suggestions were listened to and acted on
- The registered manager and other staff worked with external agencies to ensure people received joined-up care.