Home care agency operator fined £12,000 for running illegal care firm

A woman who operated a home care agency without a Care Quality Commission registration (CQC) has been ordered to pay over £12,000 after admitting to the crime of providing care illegally.

Beverley Bevis provided care in people’s own homes through her company Five Star Homecare Leeds Ltd and pleaded guilty to providing a regulated activity - personal care – which involved assisting people to eat, drink, dress, bathe and use the toilet.

The CQC brought the prosecution after it received a tip off in September 2018 from a relative of someone using Five Star Homecare while it was not registered.

The tip off prompted CQC inspectors to make a surprise visit to Five Star Homecare’s Morley premises in Leeds three weeks later. Inspectors arrived unannounced in October 2018 and spotted a window sticker advertising personal care which falsely claimed that Five Star Homecare was CQC-approved.

Inspectors found evidence the company had 23 staff providing personal care to at least seven people and saw staff time sheets and invoices demonstrating that it had been operating illegally.

Home care firm secured CQC registration in April 2020

The home care firm's operator Beverly Bevis was fined £1,500 at Leeds Magistrates’ Court on 7 January and was also ordered to pay £10,380.91 costs and a £170 victim surcharge.

In April 2020, Five Star Homecare successfully applied for CQC registration and the CQC has stated it can now provide a legal service. The service was inspected in November 2020 and rated 'Requires Improvement' by the CQC.

Although CQC understands that Mrs Bevis retains involvement with the company, the care regulator has stated that she is not responsible for supervising its regulated activity.

Unregistered care firms 'put people at risk of harm'

Joyce Frederick, CQC’s deputy chief inspector of registration, said: “It is unacceptable that Beverley Bevis risked people’s safety by running a care service without the benefit of CQC registration, so I welcome her guilty plea.

“The registration process is important to appropriately assess services before they care for people. Services are then monitored and inspected to ensure that they continue to meet standards that people should be able to expect.”

Health and social care services providing regulated activities, including personal care, are required under section 10 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to register with CQC. This means they can be monitored to ensure people’s safety.

Joyce Frederick added: “Unregistered services operate without oversight, putting people at risk of harm.

“Monitoring of domiciliary care agencies is especially important, as people who receive care in their own homes can be particularly vulnerable because of their circumstances.

“When we find providers operating illegally, we do not hesitate to act to protect people.”