A STOCKSFIELD care company this week said it was determined to improve following a damning report by a healthcare watchdog.

Helping Hands Community Care, with bases in in Stocksfield and Haltwhistle, was found to be inadequate following an inspection across five dates in June and July by the Care Quality Commission.

The service provides personal care and support to people within their own homes in the Tynedale area.

It was previously inspected in November 2016 and rated as “requires improvement” after CQC inspectors found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The latest inspection was to ensure concerns had been addressed and that the provider was now meeting the regulations. But the CQC found that the service still required improvement in its efficiency, care and responsiveness, while in its safety and leadership it was found to be inadequate – giving it an overall inadequate rating.

The CQC found four breaches of the Health and Social Care Act, relating to the need for consent, safe care and treatment, staffing and good governance. There was found to be discrepancies in the way medicines were managed, and people were not always receiving medicines as their doctor had prescribed them, putting them at risk.

Accidents and incidents were recorded on the IT system, but the inspection found that actions had not always been recorded and no analysis had been completed to learn from them or spot any trends forming.

Inspectors also found that some people’s records did not specify why particular actions were followed by staff.

t the report published following the inspection said that people and their relatives felt safe, cared for and supported by care staff in their own homes.

They told inspectors they were treated with kindness and respect and were complimentary about the staff who supported them.

One service user told inspectors the staff were “wonderful help, and they are what keeps me going.”

The CQC inspectors said they recognised that the new management team, including a new manager appointed a few weeks prior to the inspection, were dealing with issues that were historic in nature and had been embedded into the culture.

A spokesman for Helping Hands Community Care said it accepted the findings of the report, and that there had been a complete review and restructure.

“This report makes us determined to redouble our efforts to drive forward performance improvements,” he added.

“We’re convinced the positive results of our changes along with recent and future investment will soon be apparent to everybody.

“We are confident we will soon be meeting both the demands of the regulator as well as the people we look after in the wider community.”

The service has been put into special measures and the CQC said it would return in due course to check on the progress of improvements.