Fareham care agency shut down after it was put into 'special measures'

Fairhaven Healthcare in Fareham has been stripped of its provider and manager registrations after CQC inspectors found several breaches of regulations and issues with medicine records, staffing and training.

It was given an ‘inadequate rating’ in January this year and owner Lindokuhle Shezi told The News in March that the team was ‘disappointed’ with the CQC rating but was determined to turn things around.

The agency was officially closed on July 27.

The CQC’s inspector report read: ‘At our last inspection we identified there were no protocols in place for people who were prescribed medicines “as required”.

‘At this inspection we found protocols still had not been implemented. For example, we saw that a tablet had been handwritten on to one person's medication administration record and the direction was for staff to give one or two when required.

‘However, there was no information about what the medicine was for, when to give it, what the safe maximum dose per day was or what the desired effect should be. This meant people may not receive their medicines appropriately and placed people at the risk of harm.’

The agency was providing care for Hampshire County Council but in March the council confirmed the agency would not get new contracts until improvements were made.

Inspectors found three staff did not have ‘suitable references’ and a DBS check had not been done on one staff member.

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The report also noted feedback from clients and their relatives relating to some staff missing appointments or being late, which in one case meant 20 hours of care in a month was not provided when it should have been and several others where office staff covered care sessions.

A client said: ‘Not getting my full time is an issue. A couple of the carers rush through and do everything at breakneck speed. I pay for an hour but only get half an hour.’

No appeals were made by the company to overturn the enforcement actions.

In the company’s previous two inspections in 2019 and 2018, it received a ‘requires improvement’ rating.

Fairhaven was approached for comment by The News.

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