Genesis Recruitment Agency Ltd remains in special measures after damning watchdog report finds care service 'not safe'

A domiciliary care agency looking after people with dementia, learning disabilities and mental health conditions in Ealing has been rated inadequate after inspectors found it was not to be safe.

Genesis Recruitment Agency Ltd provides nursing and domiciliary care for around 127 people in west London, some of whom have physical disabilities and sensory impairments.

A report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), published on December 12 and made public this month, gave the service an overall rating of inadequate after two inspections in October.

Inspectors found the care agency's safety levels were inadequate and found the service was poorly-led.

CQC reports

They said the service requires improvement for its effectiveness and responsiveness and inspectors found the service needs to be more caring to its patients.

The provider, which has been in special measures since an inspection in February 2017, was also reportedly breaching a number of regulations in regards to safe care and treatment of people.

“The service was not safe [and] the provider did not ensure medicines were managed safely,” the report said.

“The provider did not deploy care workers appropriately to ensure people received their visits at the time agreed with them and for the care workers to stay the full length of the visits.

“Some care workers had not renewed their DBS check every three years in line with the provider's policy.

“The service was not always caring - we saw some care workers did not always use wording in documents that referred to people in a respectful way."

An inspection found the provider's services were inadequate and required improvement (Image: CQC)

During home visits, CQC inspectors found new care plans – which identify how people want their care provided - had been produced but were not in people's homes.

This meant staff did not have the most up-to-date information on people's files on how to care for them.

The report added: “The medicines administration record chart for one person stated the care workers were responsible for administering a medicine in the evening.

It continued: “However, the person's care plan stated their family administered all medicines. Therefore, there was no clear guidance as to who was responsible for the administration of medicines.

“The chart for another person identified they had been prescribed a tablet to be taken once a month, but there was no record of which day that should be administered.”

"There was no clear guidance as to who was responsible for the administration of medicines" (Image: Getty Images)

CQC inspectors also said the majority of people they spoke to said their care workers sometimes arrive late but do not always call to let them know.

Although a number of areas for improvement were flagged, inspectors did find the provider had made improvements since the February inspection.

People were happy with the care received and felt the service was well-led and care workers were kind.

The care agency had systems in place to protect people using the service and all care workers had completed safeguarding adults training.

As the service remains in special measures, it will be kept under review and reinspected within six months.

Speaking to getwestlondon, a spokesman for Genesis Recruitment Agency Ltd said: “We are disappointed with the findings of the Care Quality Commission.

"We have made improvements in our service and we shall continue to do so where required to improve our rating.”