Ipswich care provider Hearts of Care Agency placed into special measures after first Care Quality Commission review

An Ipswich care provider has been placed in special measures after its first inspection by a watchdog.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said Hearts of Care Agency was not managed well by leaders, which meant services were not being handled properly.

The watchdog rated Hearts of Care Agency as inadequate for safety, effectiveness, responsiveness and leadership and requires improvement for care.

Mark Elvidge, director of Hearts of Care Agency, said it was extremely disappointed with the results of the review and would not be complacent with its findings.

According to its report, the watchdog found five breaches of legal regulation in relation to safe care and treatment.

This was the first time it had been inspected by the CQC and has been placed in special measures.

Hearts of Care Agency was found to be supporting groups it was not registered for, such as adults with autism or learning difficulties, youngsters and children, which put them at risk, the authority said.

Hazel Roberts, CQC deputy director of operations in the East of England, said: “People using the service and their relatives said staff were kind and they were happy with their care, but we found staff didn’t always have the knowledge or skills needed to provide this care safely.”

Highlights from its report include the service not including people in planning their own care; not giving information patients could understand; lack of detail in daily care notes and not making improvements based on people’s feedback.

Staff didn’t always know how to support individual autistic people or those with a learning if they became distressed or fully considered risks to vulnerable people, Ms Roberts said,

“Despite having safeguarding training, staff had also failed to recognise or report multiple safeguarding incidents that could place people at risk of abuse or neglect,” she added.

“Because they hadn’t investigated these incidents or reported them to the local authority and CQC, leaders had missed opportunities to learn and protect people from repeated mistakes.

“We’ve shared our concerns with leaders, and issued the service a warning notice to focus their attention on the most urgently needed improvements.

“We’ll continue to monitor the service, including through further inspections, to ensure people receive safe care while this happens.”

Hearts of Care Agency supports people in their own homes.

Mr Elvidge added: “We have happy clients and happy staff and view this rating as harsh and unfair.

“As a director, I take full responsibility, but I can assure our clients, staff, and public we will learn from our mistakes and shortcomings.

“We have a robust action plan in place, and we are committed to achieving the standards expected of a professional Care Provider before our next assessment in August.”