The Care Quality Commission rated Maxi Healthcare Limited as inadequate and urgently cancelled its registration on 3 March following an inspection during February and March.
Maxi Health Care Limited was a domiciliary care service run by Maxi Healthcare Ltd, providing care and support to people with very complex needs in their own homes. For example, people with epilepsy and people who required oxygen therapy.
Immediately following the inspection, CQC suspended the ratings of the service on its website. CQC can suspend ratings whilst investigating information of concern. This ensures that people looking for information about an organisation can be confident that ratings are an up-to-date accurate reflection of the care being provided.
CQC found five breaches of legal regulations in relation to safe care and treatment, safeguarding, safe and effective staffing, good governance and failure to notify CQC of notifiable incidents.
The overall rating for the service is inadequate, as well as the ratings for safe and well-led; all of which declined from good.
Serena Coleman, CQC deputy director of operations in the south, said:
“When we inspected Maxi Healthcare Limited we found a failure in leadership, poor culture, and ineffective systems and processes meant people using the service weren’t safe.
“Staff weren’t managing medicines safely and dosage information wasn’t consistent across records meaning people could receive too much or too little.
“Incident and safeguarding logs weren’t kept up to date and lacked detail, meaning we couldn’t be assured that appropriate action was taken in response or that leaders were helping staff to learn from incidents to help prevent them from happening again.
“Staff hadn’t completed training that was relevant to their role and the people they supported. For example, staff hadn’t completed training in catheter care, wound/pressure care, epilepsy, or oxygen therapy despite caring for people who needed supported with these healthcare issues. Leaders had told their funding authority that this training had been carried out when it hadn’t.
“It’s always a last resort for CQC to take action which results in a service closing, particularly when it is an urgent closure as we understand the distress and upset this can cause. However, people using services should receive safe, effective and high-quality care that meets their needs. Everyone using the service has been supported to find an alternative care agency to meet their needs safely.
Inspectors found:
- Leaders had not created a proactive and positive culture of safety based on openness and honesty.
- The service didn’t work well with other health system partners to establish and maintain safe systems of care.
- People’s needs were not being fully assessed prior to their package of care starting.
- There was no guidance for staff on how to support people safely with complex health conditions. Maxi Healthcare Limited put some guidance in place after it was raised by CQC, but the guidance still lacks detail.
- Leaders didn’t ensure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff.
- Leaders did not have the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively, and they did not do so with integrity or openness.
- The provider did not understand their regulatory responsibility regarding submitting statutory notifications to the Care Quality Commission.