Lancashire care agency improves after follow-up inspection

A Lancashire home care agency has addressed several shortcomings highlighted by inspectors last year, according to inspectors at the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The Haslingden-based branch of Mears Care, which provides domiciliary help to about 350 people across East Lancashire, failed to meet four basic standards of care when it was inspected last September.

The CQC had been passed information on service users ‘not receiving adequate care’ while one allegation of ‘neglect’ had been upheld after investigations by social services.

Some agency clients believed a high staff turnover, as well as a shortage of carers, meant they often did not stay for the allotted time and failed to carry out required tasks.

After a follow-up visit, the regulator said: “We received an action plan informing us how required improvements were to be achieved. During this inspection we discussed with the manager how the plan had been developed and found our concerns had been addressed appropriately.”

The key improvements were made in ‘care and welfare of people’, ‘management of medicines’, ‘supporting workers’ and ‘assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision‘.