Telford care service failed to give out proper medicines

Telford-based Tailored Care was found to be inadequate across all areas by the Care Quality Commission.

Inspectors said the care provided was not always safe, effective, caring, responsive or well-led.

Since the inspection in October, the service has been taken over by Kensington Care. Bosses at Tailored Care, based at Coalport House, Stafford Court, said they realised “significant changes” were necessary in the day-to-day running of the service after the inspection, adding that they felt another company was needed.

The visit was prompted after reports to the CQC that there were “insufficient staffing available to meet people’s needs”.

The report says: “People being cared for told us they felt safe with the staff, however they were not always safeguarded from abuse. Risks to people were not always managed.

“People did not always have support to meet their nutritional needs. People were not supported to monitor and maintain their health. People did not always receive their medicine as prescribed and the medicine administration records did not reflect the support people needed.”

Inspectors identified nine breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. They found that both staff and clients felt they were unable to raise their concerns with management.

The report adds: “People understood how to make a complaint, however people felt their complaints were not listened to.

“People were not always able to choose for themselves and express their preferences about when their care and support was delivered.

“People, relatives and staff told us they felt unable to raise their concerns with the registered manager. Staff felt unsupported by the registered manager and did not feel they could approach them with their concerns. The quality of the service was not assessed effectively and there was no identification of the concerns we found during the inspection or any action taken to make improvements.”

David Fensome, director at Tailored Care, said his staff had worked hard to make improvements, adding: “The company traded really successful for seven years.

“The day to day care sits with the registered manager. The directors of the company realised having seen the CQC report that significant changes were needed in the day-to-day management.

"Kensington Care is better to take it forward than we are. We worked very hard with the CQC, all local authorities and Kensington Care to make sure that there was a safe and efficient transfer of both the clients and as many of the staff as was possible.”

Birmingham-based Kensington Care was not available for comment.