Carnforth home care company failed to protect vulnerable people from risk of abuse

St Gregory's Homecare in Carnforth was inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in November 2022, with the report of the findings published this month (Tuesday, February 7).

As a result of the visit, the home received a "Requires Improvement" rating, with a rating of "Inadequate", the lowest a service can receive, in terms of how "well-led" the service is.

The report reads: “People were at risk of harm as they were not always protected against the risk of abuse.”

As a result, safeguarding concerns were raised by the residents' relatives.

Safeguarding as a general issue was also not given enough priority and lessons had not always been learnt to prevent further allegations raised about people.

Lessons were not always being learnt to prevent further safeguarding allegations being raised about people.

For example, the provider sent a care worker to a person following previous allegations being raised about the same care worker.

The report also states that the inspectors found "some evidence that people had been harmed", but did not explain what this was and clarified that the provider raised safeguarding concerns with the relevant local authority.

The report also states people were not always protected from the risk of harm, with care plans and risk assessments not always containing details of people's needs such as catheter care.

Relatives told the CQC they were not always confident care staff managed risks to their family members effectively.

Another issue was the matter of medicines, with the report stating that systems were not always in place to ensure medicines were stored and used properly and safely. One relative stated: "We think (person) is reasonably safe, although we aren't sure about medication."

In terms of how effective the service is, the home also received a "Requires Improvement" rating.

CQC inspectors found that residents of the home "did not always receive support from care staff who had the necessary training, competence, skills and experience".

The report states: "One member of staff described supporting a person with compression hosiery and causing them discomfort as they had not done this before, they then received further training in this area."

However, the manager took action to review care arrangements and staff were introduced to a full training programme to support knowledge and skills.

Another improvement requirement by the care home is the delivery of high-quality person-centred care.

According to the report, there were some cases of care staff being rushed, abrupt and judgemental which "impacted people's wellbeing".

One person said: "(Care worker) just stood there and watched me really struggle with nightclothes (care worker) was really not kind. The next day (care worker) came and didn't lock the door, I felt so awful."

Dignity was not always provided too, with one resident continuously asking for no males to carry out personal care, requesting a female instead, but this was not addressed. One person said, "I will only have a female care worker to help me with anything personal. They occasionally have sent males; I just don't have my shower."

St Gregory’s Homecare Ltd said: “St. Gregory’s Homecare Ltd has taken a considerable number of steps since our last inspection to drive forward development and improvement in our service.

"We have worked with independent assessors throughout this period, to ensure our services are moving in a positive direction.

"The latest inspection report reflects that improvements are still required and we acknowledge this.

"We have pledged to continue to develop our service and will continue to work tirelessly to offer a high-quality service to our service users.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank our care staff team for their continued hard work and patience throughout this period, whilst we work with the CQC to improve our service.”