By Sheila Mckenzie-
A provider which supports vulnerable people in their own homes has been found to be inadequate in its first inspection by the regulator.
Care Quality Commission inspectors found SA Quality Care Ltd inadequate after five visits last year.
The firm which is commissioned by Bradford Council to provide short-term help with personal care needs for adults for an initial six weeks, before a longer-term provider can be found, is facing embarrassment after the revelation which has damaged its reputation.
The Eye Of Media.Com heard that many families associated with firm are now withdrawing as a result of the finding by the regulator, which has being shared multiple times on social media since its announcement,
The Commission discovered people under the care of the institution were not always safe and that a number of improvements needed to be made.
Inspectors found that “medicines were not managed safely”, that “the required checks had not been undertaken before staff started work”, and that “staff did not receive induction and and training to support them effectively in carrying out their role”.
The report added however that: “Although people told us they felt safe the absence of effective systems to identify and manage risks places them at risk of harm.”
The report also found that an outbreak of Covid-19 in the office at the time of the inspection had meant that some handovers and logs had not been collected in the usual way – they have now switched to an electronic process.
Following the inspection an SA Quality Care sent an action plan to the CQC to outline how it would deal with some of the more serious risks identified in the inspection, and measures are already being put in place, the firm said.
The CQC report said: “We have identified breaches in relation to recruitment, safe care and treatment, staff training and good governance at this inspection.”
As a result of being rated inadequate, the service has been placed in special measures, which means it will be kept under review and will be re-inspected within six months.
The report described one person saying: “They [staff] are still learning. There is some stuff I have to tell them,” when it came to risks associated with people’s health.
Online training over supporting people with medicines, saw one care worker say: “The training was very basic. It did not really help.”
They found no records of references being requested or received, and one staff member had worked alone without a DBS check in place.
It said they had difficulty accessing medication records “due to pharmacies not providing them on several requests”, but it has taken steps to rectify this.
It added that due to pandemic obtaining references had become difficult, but they had asked for a personal reference and HMRC tax records to prove previous employment.
“The safety and wellbeing of each service user is our priority, and we continue to work with our umbrella company for DBS checks on each individual,” the spokesman said.
Staff had undertaken online training modules due to the pandemic, and shadow shifts were given, adding: “CQC was not happy with the level of training provided by the current training provider, to which SA Quality Care immediately changed provider and carers are now to be provided with virtual online training via camera.”
They added: “During the pandemic all our employees have been working tirelessly to provide the care needed. Carers have been and continue to go over and beyond what is required and spending significant time with service users, more than commissioned by the contractor.”
A spokesperson for Bradford Council told The Eye Of Media.Com: “We have been made aware of the issues that have been raised by the Care Quality Commission at SA Quality Care, which is a Homecare Provider.
“Bradford Council are working closely with the home care provider to ensure current practices are monitored and improvements are made in line with those required by the Care Quality Commission, to achieve the best outcome for all service users.
“Our main priority at this moment in time is to ensure that there is no disruption to the continuation of care for existing service users, however in line with our processes there will be no new placements made until improvements have been sustained and the Care Quality Commission re-inspection takes place.”