Care staff's criminal records went unchecked, report says

Blessed Hearts Home Care provided personal care to 23 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection in March and April 2021

A care at home service with an "unsafe" recruitment policy has been placed in special measures.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found Blessed Hearts Home Care, in West Bromwich, failed to vet staff with criminal records and employed others with incomplete employment histories.

It rated the company inadequate and said staff did not always have the necessary skills or experience.

The firm said there was "quite a lot of exaggeration" in the watchdog's report.

One relative told inspectors: "They'll take anyone off the streets."

The CQC said it would look for "significant improvements", following the inspections between 31 March and 6 April.

Its report said inspectors checked on the recruitment records of five staff and found a full risk assessment had not been carried out for staff with criminal convictions.

It concluded the company "had failed to implement safe recruitment processes".

One person described how staff members would enter their home without knocking and said: "It's like being an animal in a zoo."

The inspectors reported carers were "often late" or care calls were missed.

Relatives said the lateness of the staff meant their loved ones had long waits for their meals and relatives had to do some of the caring without support.

One relative told the inspectors carers wore the same gloves for all tasks, including after carrying out personal care or applying creams and another said staff wore the same apron for personal care and food preparation.

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The family members also complained staff did not always appear to take Covid-19 seriously and one entered a home without PPE.

Another person said: "They're not hot on Covid. They'll tell you I've had Covid, so you're alright."

This put the people in their care at risk of harm, the watchdog added.

Blessed Hearts Home Care managing director Joseph Nana stated that "saying people go in without knocking is incorrect".

He added: "It infers the door is always open, which is not true. We can only enter houses where we have key safe.... a code that you put in that gives access to the house."

The service user who mentioned a zoo was "complaining about his own situation, not about our own services", Mr Nana said.

He added the full management team had been changed just before the CQC inspection following a move from a franchise to being an independent provider.

The company changed policy, procedures and management to provide better services and when the watchdog arrived, changes were already being implemented, the managing director said.

Mr Nana stated the conclusion, following a survey between April and May, was service users were "very satisfied" and the firm was implementing all measures the CQC highlighted, "most of which were already embedded in our improvement plan".