‘Inadequate’ care agency placed in special measures

BURNHAM: Forever Homecare in Burnham has been rated ‘inadequate’ following a recent inspection, writes Adrian Williams.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) felt that the service failed in terms of being safe and well-led – including not keeping to Government COVID-19 best practice guidance.

Forever Homecare is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their own home, via live-in staff or daily visits.

At the time of inspection, the service was supporting 47 people across Buckinghamshire and Berkshire.

It was previously rated Good when it was last inspected in August 2017.

CQC carried out an inspection of the service in January after receiving information of concern in relation to the overall management and the safe management of medicines.

When inspectors spoke to people using the service or their family members, the majority provided negative feedback regarding their care.

Some complained that staff arrived late, or not at all, and sometimes left early.

They described examples of receiving poor care, such as items being left out of reach, or carers not treating them with dignity when changing them.

Additionally, the service failed to inform CQC of incidents that had taken place and did not understand its responsibility to do so.

The service also did not test staff regularly for COVID-19 and the legitimacy of the tests was uncertain, the CQC said.

CQC’s head of inspection for adult social care, Rebecca Bauers, said:

“Our inspectors found that Forever Homecare was not safeguarded from abuse or risks, including infection control risks in relation to COVID-19.

“Safe medicine practices were not followed, and accidents and incidents were not effectively managed.

“There was also no evidence of learning following an incident, to prevent reoccurrence.”

The service has been given a warning notice and placed in special measures.

It will be re-inspected within six months to check for improvements.

Yvonne Jonathan-Osamor, operations manager at Forever Homecare said: “We became aware of the failings of the service when we took over in August of last year and we have worked tirelessly to ensure the service becomes [CQC] compliant again.

“We are confident that with these measures in place we will become compliant again in no time.”

The service says it has now recruited a registered manager with ‘vast’ care management experience and new staff will join a ‘buddy’ system with existing staff, among other improvements to medication management and infection control.