The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has dropped the rating of Classique Care Services Limited from good to inadequate and placed it in special measures to protect people following an inspection in February.
Classique Care Services Limited, run by a provider with the same name, provides personal care to older people living with a range of healthcare needs in their own homes. The service was supporting 138 people at the time of this inspection, 125 of whom were being supported with care regulated by CQC.
This inspection was prompted by concerns raised by the local authority about the care being provided by the service.
The overall rating for the service has dropped from good to inadequate, as well as for safe and effective. The ratings for caring, responsive, and well-led have dropped from good to requires improvement.
Classique Care Services Limited has been placed in special measures which means it will be kept under close review by CQC to keep people safe and it will be monitored to check sufficient improvements have been made.
Antoinette Smith, CQC deputy director of operations in London, said:
“When we inspected Classique Care Services, we were very concerned to find people’s care wasn’t always safe and was often provided by unfamiliar staff who didn’t know them well or understand their needs. Leaders weren’t managing the service well and weren’t listening to feedback from the people they were meant to care for.
“Some people said the lack of regular staff made them feel unsafe, and that some staff weren’t always as kind or respectful as those that knew them well. Leaders hadn’t employed enough suitably trained staff and people said their care visits were frequently late or missed without warning. We found visits were often cut short, with some staff staying for less than half the time they were meant to.
“Many people’s care plans were also poor quality and made without sufficient input or agreement from them or their relatives. People’s risk assessments were equally poor, and didn’t always guide staff on how to reduce risks to people’s safety, such as falls. This meant staff didn’t always have the information they needed to meet people’s needs safely or respect their preferences, especially if they didn’t know them well.
“People told us their concerns were either not listened to by the management, or were initially acted on but ultimately forgotten. Leaders had little oversight of people’s care and, when things went wrong, didn’t always record, investigate, or learn from these incidents to improve people’s care in future.
“At the time of our inspection, the management had hired a consultant firm roughly three weeks ago to address similar concerns to ours found by the local authority, but it was too early to see positive impacts from this.
“We’ve shared our findings with the management to show where immediate improvements are needed, and won’t hesitate to take further action if we don’t see this happening. We’re closely monitoring the service to ensure people are kept safe in the meantime.”
Inspectors also found:
- People in need of time-sensitive medication didn’t always receive it on time, due to late or missed care visits.
- Not all staff had been recruited safely or fully completed inductions to ensure they were safe and competent to provide people’s care.
- Leaders didn’t always support or supervise their staff to help them give people good quality care. Some staff lacked training, including in areas such as risk assessments and people’s medications.
- Staff didn’t always discuss people’s communication needs with them and the service didn’t always give people information in ways they could understand.
- The service had lacked a registered manager since July 2023, and the leaders in place lacked the skills and experience to lead effectively. The service was recruiting for a new registered manager.
- Leaders hadn’t reported incidents in which people had experienced harm to outside organisations such as CQC as legally required to keep people safe.
However:
- Following this inspection, the management was reviewing all care plans. Care plans that had already been changed showed significant improvement.
The report will be published on CQC’s website in the coming days.