Abuse risk as exploitation allegations 'not followed up' at Telford care agency
An agency providing care to people living in their own homes has been rated ‘inadequate’ by health inspectors who found it breached a string of regulations.
The failings came to light when it had its services inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
A newly-published report said people were not safe from the risks of ill-treatment and abuse as the provider Daily Care 4 U failed to recognise and respond to allegations that could potentially harm people.
It said: “One relative told us about a serious allegation of financial abuse and exploitation regarding their family member and two staff members.
“They went on to say that this had been reported to the registered manager but they did nothing about the concerns.
“They acknowledged that the two members of staff did not work with their family member anymore but believed they still worked for Daily Care 4 U.
“We asked the registered manager about this allegation. They told us they knew about the allegation but they failed to follow agreed protocols for reporting and responding to such allegations including contact with the local authority, the police and with the Care Quality Commission.”
Inspectors said a manager confirmed there was no investigation regarding the conduct of staff, who are based at the Glebe Centre in Wellington, but the matter has since been referred to the local authority since the inspection.
Failing to follow safe recruitment practices was also highlighted as a concern.
The report said: “Out of the four staff recruitment files we looked at we identified two staff members with previous convictions listed in the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) disclosure.
“When we asked the registered manager about these criminal convictions, they told us they did not follow these up with the staff members concerned.”
The service is run by Daily Care 4 U (Telford) Ltd and the CQC has issued the provider with an ‘urgent notice of decision’ asking bosses to complete an action plan on how they are going to meet regulations.
The service was rated inadequate overall and in every area inspected apart from whether the service was caring, where it received a rating of ‘requires improvement’.
The recent report follows an inspection carried out in June.
A number of different services are based at the Glebe Centre, but Daily Care 4 U is the only one covered in this CQC report.
Daily Care 4 U (Telford) Ltd was unavailable for comment.
