London home care provider put into special measures by CQC

A home care agency in the London borough of Tower Hamlets has been put into special measures after the Care Quality Commission found it to be Inadequate.

Earlier this year, the CQC cancelled the registration of the same provider Sevacare which also operated in Haringey, after inspectors rated the North London service as Inadequate.

In April, the Sunday Times revealed that Ravi Bains, the chief executive of Sevacare, was paid £411,000 and picked up dividends of £1.96m in 2014.

In its latest inspection, the CQC found Sevacare - Tower Hamlets had failed to make sufficient improvements since its previous inspection in 2015, when the provider was not providing safe care and treatment, adequate person centred care, consent and good governance.

They found although measures were in place to ensure that staff had the training they needed, induction and shadowing of new staff was not fully completed. There was insufficient assessment of the competency of new staff to provide care effectively.

Debbie Ivanova, deputy chief inspector of adult social care for CQC in London, said: “People who use domiciliary care services rely on their carers so that they can get on with their daily lives. If the carers are late, or cancel at late notice, it can have far reaching consequences.

“When providers are paid to care for people in vulnerable circumstances, they must ensure that care is safe, compassionate and high quality.

“Sevacare has made some improvement in the punctuality of home visits, however lateness was still identified as a significant problem by many people and their families.

“We have made it clear to Sevacare that it must improve or they could face further action to ensure that the people who rely on its services get the care to which they are entitled.”

Services placed in special measures are inspected again within six months. If insufficient improvements have been made, the CQC can cancel their registration or change the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve.

Sevacare runs 43 agencies in England.

To read the CQC report on Sevacare – Tower Hamlets go to http://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-495782489

Sevacare – Haringey, was exposed by Channel 4 Dispatches earlier this year for providing ‘poor care’. In the wake of the investigation, Haringey Council scrapped its contract with the home care provider.

To read the report on Sevacare – Haringey go to http://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-130731553