'Extremely disappointed' care provider told it 'requires improvement' by watchdog

A care operator which looks after elderly people in Redcar and Cleveland living in their own homes intends to challenge recent inspection findings after taking issue with them.

Caremark (Redcar and Cleveland) was declared by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to be ‘good’ in terms of effective, caring and responsive categories used by the watchdog to rate providers. But it was said to 'require improvement' in terms of being both safe and well-led - meaning the overall judgement was no better than ‘requires improvement’.

Caremark (Redcar and Cleveland) provides services for up to 400 people in the borough, including personal care for people who may live with dementia symptoms or mental health needs, and is contracted by Redcar and Cleveland Council.

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Its managing director Michelle Jackson said in a statement it was “extremely disappointed” with the outcome and pointed out it had scored highly with the local authority when it carried out its own quality inspection. She said: “We continue to be in open dialogue with the CQC and are challenging the result.”

The CQC said improvements were required to records and governance and referenced a “regulatory breach” in respect of these aspects, while stressing no-one had been harmed. In one example given records did not show where creams had been applied by staff, while there were also inconsistencies in the required timing of medicines.

And while staff received training that was appropriate to their roles and responsibilities, learning from incidents was not always implemented with evidence of repeated medicine errors. Information in medicine and care records about any identified risk was not always transferred to associated care plans to provide guidance to staff so they could keep people safe, which in themselves were not always sufficiently detailed or up to date.

The CQC did say that post inspection it received a “detailed action plan addressing the shortfalls we had identified including a variety of new audits and processes”. It also highlighted a number of positive aspects with systems said to provide effective care and support, along with the promotion of good infection prevention and control.

A family member commented: "My relative is happy with the carers, absolutely. They arrive on time and stay the full duration.

"They wear gloves and PPE (personal protective equipment).”

Staff rotas were said to be well managed, helping to ensure those in receipt of services receive consistent good quality care. Recruitment was also “robust” with new staff undergoing appropriate pre-employment checks which included photo identification, work history, references and a Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Processes were in place to protect people from abuse with staff receiving training on identifying and reporting abuse and knew what action to take if they identified abuse. Safeguarding incidents were investigated and there was evidence of action taken and effective lessons learned.

The CQC also examined the experience of those working for the provider and relatives with loved ones under its care, describing an open culture with people being listened to and concerns addressed. Numerous praiseworthy comments were received on behalf of staff who were said to “go out of their way to make me feel comfortable” and were “very kind, caring and gentle”, while staff themselves said it was a good company to work for and “I love coming to work”.

There was also praise for the “capable and compassionate management team” who, the CQC said, with staff, worked to ensure good quality care for people in partnership with external professionals.

The statement said Caremark (Redcar and Cleveland) prided itself on the excellent and high quality care provided to people in their own homes and also its involvement in community-based initiatives, such as a dog-therapy service and ‘safe place’ activities organised at a local rugby club.

It added: “With 16 years of home care experience and currently serving more than 400 customers in our community, we are experienced, knowledgeable and passionate about delivering a care service that is second to none. Our recent quality inspection by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council scored us very highly and we believe this to be an accurate reflection of our position as the number one provider of home care in our area.

“We are, however, absolutely committed to working with the CQC and will ensure we rectify any shortcomings in our service that are appropriately identified by them."

Councillor Lisa Robson, cabinet member for adults at Redcar and Cleveland Council, said it was committed to ensuring high standards of care so residents could be supported to live as independently as possible in their own homes. She said: “We are aware of the Care Quality Commission’s assessment outcome for this independent provider.

"It found the service was meeting the underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture and, although most systems are in place to provide effective care and support to people, some improvements are required to records and governance.

“The council is proactively working in partnership with the leadership team at Caremark (Redcar and Cleveland) to ensure actions required are addressed in a timely manner.”

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