Watchdog tells care outfit to do better

ACARE firm failed to properly check that staff it was taking on were suitable to work with vulnerable people, a watchdog has found.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has ordered ICare Solutions Stockport to improve after a recent inspection uncovered a number of shortcomings.

The company, which operates across Stockport and Tameside, provides personal care to more than 150 people within their own homes.

But the CQC carried out a review of the service after concerns were raised over recruitment and care worker training.

Inspectors reported that staff were caring, kind, and built good relationships with the people they looked after. They protected their dignity and encouraged them to be independent.

But the watchdog also found that ‘safe recruitment practices’ were not always followed while training and support for staff also fell short.

Its report notes that ‘insufficient checks on the background of applicants and their suitability to work with vulnerable people had been made’.

And it adds that new staff ‘did not feel their induction gave them the skills they needed and felt unsupported when they started work’.

One carer told inspectors ‘I didn’t feel competent after the training. It was very basic’, while another said, ‘you learn when you’re thrown into it’.

The management team said that new staff shadowed experienced colleagues to develop their skills - but the CQC said it was not clear how staff were supported and assessed as competent in their role.

Concerns were also raised over the experience of staff members that new workers were asked to shadow.

One carer told the CQC: “You’re supposed to go out with staff who have been here for a while. I had only been here a month and new staff were out with me.”

The report adds that spot-checks on staff had not been completed during the pandemic to reduce the number of visits to people’s homes - but no alternative ways of assessing the quality of the service had been explored.

While the service was deemed to be ‘good’ in the caring and responsive categories, the overall rating was ‘requires improvement’, due to shortcomings in safety, effectiveness and leadership.

In total there were three breaches of care regulations, including the reporting and investigation of safeguarding concerns.

ICare Stockport says that after an ‘unprecedented year’ of high demand for home care it recognises there are areas it can improve on.

A spokesperson said: “We have addressed the CQC’s inspection rating with immediate action and necessary measures have been taken to develop and progress the branch.

“Although parts of our inspection were very positive and received a ‘good’ rating, other parts have received ‘requires improvement’ and we have addressed the areas of concern with a robust recruitment policy and overhauled the staff training program to give a higher level of confidence to our staff and service users.

“There have been changes to management personnel and we look forward to working with the CQC, and our partners at the council to improve the overall quality of our work.”