A CARE provider with "a poor history of compliance with regulation" has been rated 'inadequate' following an inspection.
Lizor Care Concept, based in Tidworth, unsafely managed medicines, failed to identify, assess and mitigate risks and ineffectively monitored staff performance according to the Care Quality Commission.
The domiciliary care agency was visited by two CQC inspectors on October 16, 24 and 27, 2023, to follow up on safeguarding concerns.
A report published on January 3 said Lizor had been inspected five times since its registration in May 2020, all of which were initiated due to safeguarding concerns or to follow up on shortfalls identified at a previous inspection.
Since the agency was rated 'inadequate' it has been placed into special measures and will be kept under review with a re-inspection planned within six months to check for significant improvements.
'There’s no hiding from it and rightly so'
Director Onuwa Benjamin Alizor said he has taken the outcome "extremely seriously" and that he is "disappointed to be in this position".
He added: "I believe we deliver very strong care it’s a shame some of our procedures don’t work as they should.
"Yes, the report is damning. There’s no hiding from it and rightly so.
"There are things we need to work on and things we can do much better but I also feel there are things in the report where the CQC did not really understand how our system works."
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One person reportedly had not received their epilepsy medication for four consecutive days which "significantly increased" the risk of them having a seizure and there were no records to show that medical advice was sought when the error was identified.
Mr Alizor said it was the family's responsibility to order the medication, not Lizor Care Concept's.
When questioned about the reported incident, Mr Alizor said: "One of the inspectors said we had done everything right so it was hard for us to comprehend."
New managers brought in
"Sweeping changes" to Lizor's management structure have been made as an interim manager and area manager have been recruited "to drive quality of the service up".
Mr Alizor said he has seen "significant" changes and improvements since appointing the new managers.
How Lizor Care Concept responds to complaints, training and staff supervision has also been revamped, according to Mr Alizor.
A customer had filed a complaint against a former member of staff but was not told the outcome of this even though the person was retrained, put back through induction and eventually left the company.
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Mr Alizor said the areas highlighted by the CQC are being addressed and he believes the agency is "on course" for an overall 'good' rating when it is re-inspected.
Since its inception in March 2021, Lizor Care Concept has never achieved 'good' status from the CQC but this latest report is the first to drop the service below 'requires improvement'.
"Our systems are better framed and robust in identifying risks and control measures. We are working with external providers to train and upskill our staff across their competency requirements," Mr Alizor added.
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