The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Birchwood Care Services in Speldhurst, Kent, inadequate and placed it in special measures following an inspection in November.
This unannounced inspection was partly carried out due to a review of the information CQC held about the service. This included the quality of care being provided to people due to short staffing and poor oversight and leadership of the service.
Birchwood Care Services is a domiciliary agency providing care and support to people living in their own home.
Following this inspection, the overall rating for Birchwood Care Services has dropped from good to inadequate. Ratings for well-led and safe have also dropped from good to inadequate. Effective, caring, and responsive to people’s needs were not reviewed at this inspection and retain their good rating.
The service is now in special measures which means it will be kept under review, by CQC and re-inspected to check on the progress of improvements.
Hazel Roberts, CQC head of inspection for adult social care, said:
“When we visited Birchwood Care Services, we were disappointed to find care standards had deteriorated since our last inspection, and leaders failed to have a grasp of the issues facing the service.
“People weren’t being consistently supported by staff who knew them well. People's calls were late or had been cancelled at short notice and this meant there was a reliance on people's families having to support their loved ones.
“The service was using agency care staff as a contingency; however, calls were still late or missed.
“The manager told us they had handed back four care packages to the local authority in October to reduce the risk of more calls being cancelled. However, calls continued to be cancelled and families were asked to provide support. Following the inspection, the provider reduced the number of care packages even more to ensure all future care calls could covered and people's needs met.
“As the service has been rated inadequate and placed in special measures, we will continue to monitor it closely to ensure people are safe. If we are not assured people are receiving safe care, we will not hesitate to take further action.”
Inspectors found:
- The service was short staffed and used a number of agency carers
- People's calls were late, and many calls had been cancelled at short notice. People were not consistently informed if their care call was going to be late and this caused them anxiety. Some people were prompted in person to take their medicines which meant there was a risk they may not take their medicines without being reminded if staff did not turn up or were called over the telephone to do it
- There was a lack of oversight, scrutiny and governance by the manager and nominated individual
- Checks and audits were not effective and not completed to monitor the quality and safety of the service. People and staff had provided feedback to the manager; however, no action had been taken to analyse this or take any action.