Wallsend care provider closed after police prompt inspection

The service was based in the business centre on High Street East in Wallsend

A care service has been closed after an inspection prompted by a tip-off from police and a whistleblower.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has stripped Allcare Community Care Services Trafford Ltd in Wallsend, North Tyneside of its registration.

The CQC said the company had "continued to ignore our concerns" despite warnings of enforcement action.

The provider said it was "never made aware of the details of any [police] investigation".

Its director, Russ Oakden, said the service, on High Street East, ceased to trade in October.

The CQC's deputy chief inspector of adult social care, Sue Howard, said inspectors had been given "no credible assurance that the quality of the care would improve".

Notifiable deaths

The company provided help for about 65 people living in their own homes, mostly older adults and people needing end-of-life care.

A CQC inspection in May 2018, in response to information shared by a whistleblower and police, found people were "not actively protected against the risk of harm".

The watchdog had been "made aware of past injuries sustained by a person who used this service", it said.

The service was rated inadequate and placed in special measures.

"The concerns were so serious that inspectors decided to begin the process to cancel the provider's registration," the CQC said.

After a subsequent inspection in August, the provider was fined £2,500 for failing to inform the CQC of notifiable deaths and serious incidents.

It has since lost an appeal against the watchdog's decision to close the service.

Northumbria Police has been approached for comment.