Northampton-based care agency confident of making improvements after critical CQC inspection

The manager of a care agency based in Northampton is confident of making further improvements after a recent inspection by the healthcare watchdog.

Farj Services was rated as 'requires improvement' overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) but with some 'good' elements following visits in March.

Manager Yengo Serge Fombe said he was pleased with the 'fair' report and pointed to the improvements made since the last inspection as a reason to be optimistic.

"We have a robust action plan in place and in the next year, we hope to get another visit from the CQC and get the other two standards up," he said.

"I don't think it will be a problem as the report specifies the areas we need to improve on as it's not the whole system that needs improvement."

Farj Services provides personal care to people living in their own homes in Northamptonshire and the London Borough of Ealing.

The agency, based at the University of Northampton's Innovation Centre on Green Street, was visited by the CQC on four days in March - before the coronavirus lockdown.

The inspectors praised staff for their care and the manager for his openness but criticised the systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service.

"Risks to people's care were not always identified or assessed and plans to support staff to deliver safe care were not always in place," the report, published on April 22, says.

"Although no one had been harmed by this failure, this put people at unnecessary risk of harm."

The last CQC inspection in July 2019 deemed the 'well-led' element of Farj Services to be 'inadequate' and 'requires improvement' overall - as did the visit before that in February and March last year.

'Well-led' has now gone up to 'requires improvement', as is 'safe', but the three other categories - effective, caring and responsive - are rated as 'good'.