South Norfolk Carers Limited

Updated 9 October 2024

Date of Assessment: 21 October 2024 to 04 November 2024. The service is a care at home service providing support to adults of all ages living with dementia, a physical disability or sensory impairment. We found six breaches of regulations relating to medicines and risk management, person-centred care, staffing, complaints, consent, and governance. The governance systems in place had failed to identify and rectify the widespread and significant concerns found at this assessment. People were not receiving consistently person-centred care that met their needs. This was because there were not enough suitably trained and skilled staff to provide continuity of care. People did not always know which staff member would be providing care or when, and legal consent to care was not always in place. The risks to people had not been consistently identified and/or mitigated and people had not always received their medicines safely or as prescribed. There was no effective system in place to manage concerns and complaints and where people had raised concerns, these had not been effectively recorded, managed, investigated, and/or responded to. The culture of the service was closed with low staff morale. Staff did not feel valued or supported and told us they felt pressurised to deliver care as they were not given enough travel time to get to people in good time. In instances where CQC has decided to take civil or criminal enforcement action against a provider, we will publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded. This service is being placed in special measures . The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we use our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.

Updated 9 October 2024

The outcomes for people receiving the service were not consistently good. Where people received care from the same small group of staff who knew their needs, they were generally happy with the service. However, over half the people we spoke with raised concerns about their care and told us about the significant negative impact this had on them. They told us they sometimes did not feel safe receiving care as they were supported by staff who did not know their needs. People told us they were cared for by too many different staff who did not understand their needs, risks, preferences, or routines which sometimes caused them distress. People did not consistently receive their care at the times previously agreed with the service or as arranged meaning they did not feel in control of their care. The service did not meet people’s communication needs as they only sent a rota out by email despite people asking for it via other methods. People told us the use of email was not appropriate for them and not knowing which staff member was coming, and when, added to their distress. Concerns and complaints had not been listened to and rectified and people told us they did not have faith in the service because of this. Whilst people told us most staff were kind and caring, they had concerns in how the service was managed and run which had impacted them negatively. They told us they did not find the service responsive and gave examples of where the service had not acted with complete empathy, transparency, or care.