Three care homes and agencies in Havering have been given a “requires improvement” rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in recent weeks.
The services have been found to be lacking in different areas based on criteria such as safety, effectiveness, patient care, responsiveness and leadership.
Here’s a round up of the findings in each of their reports.
Inna Care Limited
Address: Unit 4.9, Queens Court, 9-17 Eastern Road, Romford, RM1 3NH
Latest Inspection: August 1
Latest report published: October 17
Key observations: Inna Care is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to older people and those with learning disabilities in their own homes. While the service was found to have made many improvements in patient safety since its previous inspection, the inspectors noted that the provider had not deployed “sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced persons”. This, the report said, is in breach of a regulation for staffing.
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The provider has claimed that it has already hired new and experienced staff members and bought a service vehicle to support them with travelling to calls.
Recruitment processes were said to be robust at the agency with enough provisions in place to ensure people are safeguarded from risk of abuse.
The report further revealed that medicines were managed safely, and people’s “equality and diversity needs” were recorded to support them in a “culturally sensitive way”.
Link to the full report: https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-4236588711
The Paddocks
Address: 272 Wingletye Lane, Hornchurch, Essex, RM11 3BL
Latest inspection: July 26
Latest report published: September 12
Key observations: The Paddocks is a residential care home that accommodates up to eight people with learning difficulties, autism and mental health needs.
CQC inspectors found that the provider had made the home safer following their previous inspection. Improvements were noted to the reporting process to ensure accidents and incidents were investigated appropriately. There was a “positive culture” at the home where people received care from “happy staff”, said the report.
The report however revealed that some aspects of the service “were not always safe” and there was “limited assurance about safety”.
While an accident and incident policy was in place, the provider was found to not be following its policy.
“We found no evidence that people had been harmed however, systems were either not in place or robust enough to demonstrate safe care and treatment was being provided in a safe way for service users”, the report said.
Link to the full report: https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-9752879190
Prior Care Limited
Address: 75 Park Lane, Hornchurch, RM11 1BH
Latest inspection: September 13
Latest report published: October 03
Key observations: Prior Care Limited provides personal care to over 34 people in their own homes. Among the shortcomings pointed out in the report, the provider’s quality assurance system was critiqued for not being robust enough to identify issues and take prompt action. This meant that the service could not ensure a safe and effective care in a timely manner for all its users.
The provider was earlier rated “Good” in the last inspection on the aspect of patient safety. During this visit, the inspectors found that the service had deteriorated to “requires improvement” and there was an increased risk that people could be harmed.
The report claimed that the systems that were in place earlier to ensure staff members attended calls on time were not strong, with several calls not been attended promptly. Staff members, it said, were not being given time to travel in between appointments.
On the positive front, adequate checks were said to be carried out while recruiting employees to help the agency make safer hires. Risk assessments were in place that contained information about specific risks that related to people’s health conditions. Users were protected from abuse and medicines were found to be administered safely.
Link to the full report: https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-119779077
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