Shrewsbury care provider told to improve records after CQC inspection
A Shropshire care provider which looks after people in their own homes has been told it needs to improve by a government watchdog.
Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission visited SLR Care in Atcham, Shrewsbury, on two occasions in February and found that it had failed to follow procedures relating to the recruitment of staff.
They found that of all the recruitment records they looked at, only one staff member had references from their past employer in place.
In her report, the inspector said: "The provider and registered manager had no record of references being requested and could not confirm if references for staff had been requested at all. Neither could explain why these staff's references had not been obtained prior to commencing employment with the service."
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The inspector also found that the management of the care service had not 'obtained past employment histories on staff or established why the staff member's last employment had ended'.
She added: "One staff member's employment history only mentioned their last job which was for the four months prior to starting work with SLR Care. However, this staff member and the registered manager told us they had worked in adult social care for 20 years. No full employment histories had been obtained for any of the staff's recruitment records we viewed."
The management of the care provider, which on the day of inspection was caring for 23 people, admitted that checks on whether a staff member had any police cautions or convictions or had been barred from working with people who receive care had not been updated.
"The provider told us most of their staff were recommended by other staff and they relied on these recommendations when establishing a potential staff member's suitability for the role," said the inspector.
The provider was found to be in breach of regulation 19 of the Heath and Social Care Act 2008.
The inspector also found that SLR Care was not well led or effective.
Record keeping was not up to date and medicine records were disorganised. "We asked for specific records to be made available to us for our second visit to the service," said the inspector. "Although the registered manager told us these records had been requested from staff they could not be found. The provider had not assessed, monitored or mitigated risk associated with people's safety and welfare. This was a breach of regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008."
However, it was found to be good in offering a caring and responsive environment for its users. People were happy with the staff that supported them and felt cared for by them. Staff were also praised for being respectful and treating people with dignity.
Sarah Richie, registered manager from SLR Care said: "This was our first inspection and most of the points were good particularly with care and services.
"On the day of the inspection we actively implemented on the two areas we were found to be in breach on, recruitment and paperwork, and these are now a standard of practice.
"The CQC inspector was pleased to see that this had happened. We are looking forward to our next inspection and have requested one as soon as we can."
