The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated Share the Care Limited Office, in Sittingbourne, Kent inadequate and placed it into special measures to protect people following an inspection in April.
Share the Care Limited Office, run by Share the Care Limited, is a domiciliary care agency providing support to adults living in their own homes, some of whom are living with dementia and a physical disability.
The inspection was undertaken as part of routine monitoring of health and care services.
Immediately following the inspection, CQC suspended the ratings of the service on its website. CQC can suspend ratings whilst investigating information of concern. This ensures that people looking for information about an organisation can be confident that ratings are an up-to-date, accurate reflection of the care being provided.
During the inspection, CQC found nine breaches of regulation in relation to providing safe, person-centred care and treatment. This included how the service sought people’s consent to care, as well as how the service was managing safeguarding issues, and notifying CQC of incidents. Also, the provider was not displaying its CQC rating, which they are required to do.
CQC also served three warning notices to Share the Care Limited, highlighting where improvements are needed.
As a result of this inspection, CQC has rated the service as inadequate overall, and for how safe and well-led it is. How effective, caring and responsive the service is, has been rated as requires improvement.
CQC has placed the service into special measures, meaning it will be closely monitored to ensure people are safe whilst improvements are made.
Serena Coleman, CQC deputy director of operations in the south, said:
“When we inspected Share the Care Limited, we found that people weren’t receiving care that respected their individuality, dignity, or rights. While staff were doing their best, they were being let down by a lack of leadership, effective policies, and clear processes to support them in delivering high-quality care.
“People didn’t always have any say in their own care and treatment. One person expressed a wish to miss a physiotherapy session and stay in bed, but instead of speaking to them directly, the carer asked a family member for permission. This undermined the person and made them feel like their wishes weren’t important and took away their independence.
“Leaders hadn’t identified or acted on serious problems with people’s care. Staff were often late or had to cut visits short because travel time wasn’t properly planned. People told us this left staff feeling rushed and at times, provided care in a rough or impersonal way.
“We also found serious risks in how the service was managing safety. In one instance, a care package was accepted without ensuring staff had the right training to meet the person’s needs. This put the individual at risk and shows a lack of oversight from leaders in ensuring they can provide the best possible safe care to people.
“People weren’t adequately protected from the risk of abuse. We saw two cases where someone may have been at risk of financial abuse, and another involving a person with dementia who was found to be at risk of harm on four separate occasions in one month. None of these incidents had been escalated to the local safeguarding team, despite being recorded by staff.
“Everyone deserves safe high-quality care. It’s unacceptable that people were being denied these basic rights due to leadership failures.
“We’ve told leaders at Share the Care Limited what urgent improvements are required, and we are monitoring the service closely to ensure people are safe while this happens care. If these changes are not made swiftly and effectively, we will not hesitate to take further action.”
Inspectors found:
- People weren’t supported to be independent or make their own choices about their daily lives.
- There was a lack of care plans and risk assessments for staff to follow.
- Systems to monitor and improve quality of care were poor and inefficient.
- Medicines weren’t always managed safely.
- There was limited guidance to inform staff how to best support people with complex conditions.