A SILSDEN-based home care agency has been rated inadequate by inspectors and the service placed in special measures.

Medicines were not managed safely at Elmar Home Care Ltd and full checks hadn't been completed to ensure staff were suitable, the inspection team found.

Now the Care Quality Commission (CQC) warns that if improvements aren't carried out within six months, action – including cancellation of registration – could be taken.

Nigel Billson, director of Elmar Home Care, said the issues raised would be addressed.

"We are working with the Care Quality Commission and anything that needs addressing will be," he said.

Inspectors said that when they visited in August, 88 people were receiving a personal care service from the agency.

Whilst users and relatives praised the "kindness and caring attitude" of staff, they voiced concerns about the reliability of the service and a high staff turnover.

"They told us that staff did not arrive at the times agreed with the agency," said a CQC spokesman.

"Issues around call times had been raised with the provider, sometimes repeatedly, but had not been resolved."

The CQC said there were no records to show what medicines were prescribed, so it could not be assured people were receiving their appropriate medication.

The same concern had been raised at the previous inspection in 2014.

Inspectors also reported that the staff recruitment process was not "robust" and workers weren't being provided with the necessary support and training.

The spokesman added: "Though people told us they felt safe with the staff, we found safeguarding incidents were not always recognised, dealt with or reported to the appropriate authorities.

"Two staff told us they had received no safeguarding training.

"Accidents and incidents were not always recorded correctly and there was a lack of evidence to show what action had been taken when these had occurred."

The CQC says effective systems were in place which ensured people's nutritional and healthcare needs were being met, but care records didn't always fully reflect people's requirements.

"Some people told us that complaints they had raised had been resolved whereas others said they had not," said the spokesman.

"Although the registered manager told us they had dealt with any complaints, there were no records to evidence the actions they had taken."

The inspection identified six breaches in regulations, relating to staffing, recruitment, safe care and treatment, safeguarding, complaints and good governance.

"We are considering the appropriate regulatory response to resolve the problems we found," the spokesman added.

"Services in special measures are kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider's registration, will be inspected again within six months.

"The expectation is that providers should have made significant improvements within this timeframe.

"If not enough improvement is made, so that there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating the service."

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