Care business under close watch after damning report

Following an evaluation conducted in May, a care facility in Leicester has received its third consecutive inadequate rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

At the time of this assessment, 24/7 Flex Care catered for 11 individuals through their domiciliary care agency, offering personal assistance to those with dementia, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, sensory impairments or autistic spectrum disorders.

Having previously received an inadequate rating and being put under special measures after inspections conducted in February and October of the previous year, the most recent assessment was conducted to see if improvement had been made.

Despite these efforts, the services performance was again deemed inadequate.

The assessment revealed that certain situations arose where individuals did not consistently experience care that guaranteed their safety. The administration of medications was insufficient and there was a lack of essential training amongst staff members.

Furthermore, inconsistencies were observed in accurately recording information about individuals within care plans, a closed culture had developed within the service which put people at risk of experiencing harm and the attitudes of leaders did not ensure the service was well lead.

Rebecca Bauers, CQC’s director for people with a learning disability and autistic people said: “When we inspected 24/7 Flex Care Ltd we were disappointed to find the provider hadn’t addressed our concerns raised at previous inspections. We also found new issues identifying other ways that people weren’t safe and were at risk of avoidable harm because the attitudes and behaviours of the leadership team meant the service wasn’t well-led.

“We were concerned that staff didn’t feel they could speak up and share their experiences which is an indication of a closed culture. This is unacceptable, and all staff should feel able to speak up and be listened to. Staff that did speak to us told us they were worried about any repercussions. Leaders must address this as a priority as all staff should feel they can speak up and be heard.

“Leaders here were unable to guarantee people were receiving the right care or support that autistic people and people with a learning disability should be able to expect. We found people weren’t safe because staff weren’t recruited safely, and medicines and risks weren’t managed well. We saw one person at risk of falls had been diagnosed with a health condition increasing their risk of bone fractures but didn’t have a falls risk assessment in place.

“People weren’t always receiving the right care because care plans failed to record accurate and consistent information about people.

“Leaders here haven’t taken our previous feedback and used it to make the rapid improvements we told them we expected to see.

“People deserve a much higher standard of care than what’s being provided by 24/7 Flex Care Ltd. The service will remain in special measures, and we will be keeping it under close review. If we don’t see significant improvement, we won’t hesitate to take further action, even if this results in the closure of the service.”

While Flex Care remains under special measures, it continues to undergo oversight from the CQC, if no improvements are made it could result in the care home having to close.