Northampton care provider rated ‘requiring improvement’ and receives warning from CQC
A Northamptonshire care provider has received a warning from the CQC after concerns were raised about its leadership.
Healthcare inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have rated Azan Home Care as ‘requiring improvement’ due to a number of failings. They also found three breaches of legal regulations during visits between May and June.
At the time of the inspection, Azan Home Care was part of the Visiting Angels franchise, providing personal care at home for adults and people with dementia or physical disabilities. Visiting Angels has since withdrawn the provider’s franchise licence, but the CQC says Azan Home Care continues to operate independently.
The CQC’s inspection followed concerns flagged with the regulator about the company’s leadership.
The inspection findings prompted the regulator to serve a warning notice to Azan Home Care Limited, which at the time oversaw the care provider.
Inspectors rated the service as ‘requiring improvement’ across safe, effectiveness, responsiveness and well-led categories, and for caring it received a higher rating of ‘good’.
The report read: “Governance and management systems were not effective and lacked scrutiny and consistency. Policies and procedures in place were not robust nor consistently followed.
“There was a lack of formal systems for incidents, accidents and complaints and duty of candour was not always upheld.”
Inspectors said while they found no evidence people had experienced harm, there were shortfalls in recruitment, training and competency assessment. They said this meant the provider could not show staff were skilled and qualified to carry out their jobs safely and effectively.
They found three breaches of legal regulations relating to staffing, employment and governance.
The report found service users and relatives were happy with the staff and care provided. Those questioned as part of the inspection knew how to raise a concern, but there was mixed feedback on action taken by the provider.
The report read: “Although people were happy with the service, during this assessment we found concerns that did not meet expected standards, which could put people at risk of harm.
“We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to some of the concerns identified at this assessment.”
Azan Home Care Limited did not respond to our request for comment.