Home care firm told to improve

A HOME care provider has been told it 'requires improvement' after its first ever inspection.

Pennine Social Care Ltd, based in Union Street, was given the rating for safety, responsiveness and the quality of leadership though health bosses found its care and effectiveness were 'good'.

Recruitment processes at the home care provider were brought under scrutiny after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) were told staff were employed through "word of mouth".

Managing director Elliot Sparks emphasised that Pennine Social Care remains a new service but said improvements were "well underway" to address the areas highlighted by inspectors. Mr Sparks also pledged to build on the report to address areas of weakness.

Inspectors said in their report: "We found that the recruitment of staff was not robust or thorough.

"We found application forms did not contain detailed information about their employment history.

"This is essential to ensure only suitable people work with vulnerable adults."

The government health watchdog also took into account the concerns of relatives who said they had experienced times when carers were late. One raised a complaint about a family member receiving their Christmas dinner "far too late".

However they added: "Staff working with people in their own homes ensured that they empowered them to live how they wanted to.

"We spoke with people who used the service and they told us the care and support provided was mostly good. People were generally happy with their care and they felt staff were respectful."

The service provider was registered in 2013 and began delivering care in 2015.

Mr Sparks said: "We are growing into the shoes of a provider that is able to cover a very diverse range of clients and adapting to meet a very broad range of requirements.

"Things are well underway to improve the three areas that inspectors highlighted.

"Some of the comments left us feeling a little bit disappointed where we were criticised for situations where we had done our very best.

"One complaint related to a client who received his Christmas dinner at 6.30pm but he had specifically asked if our staff could come later.

"The report identifies that the initial recruitment was done by word of mouth. We are just starting out but have improved on that by taking out advertisements.

"Hopefully as we get older and wiser we will see those areas of weakness addressed robustly.

"I would very much like to praise the commitment of our registered manager and my co-director. We are a small loyal group who have the best interests of those in our care at heart.

"On balance I think it is a reasonable and fair reflection but we would like to see a repeat inspection carried out in the very near future."