Health watchdog raises alarm over governance at Wigan care service which needs improvement

Premier Care Ltd (Wigan), which provides at-home care services for hundreds of people across the borough, has been rated as “requires improvement” following a recent visit from the Care Quality Commission.

Other news; Firefighters tackle fire which broke out at hidden cannabis farmThe service, which is run from an office in Hindley, currently cares for around 290 younger and older adults with physical disabilities, sensory impairments, learning disabilities or dementia.

Following the inspection; Premier Care was given “good” ratings for four out of the five categories. The service was deemed to be “safe, efficent, responsive and caring” but fell down at the “well-led” aspect by breaching a regulation regarding governance.

The care group has disputed the rating, saying that it was “very disappointed” with the decision.

Inspectors raised concerns about the service’s governance, saying: “We found the governance systems used did not provide effective oversight and monitoring of the service.

“We looked at the care records for nine people and found regular or annual reviews of care plans were not undertaken for three people.

“One person told us ‘I have not had a review in a long time’. We also found people’s ongoing risk assessments were not reviewed on a regular basis.”

A spokesperson for Premier Care Ltd said: “We are pleased that in four out of five areas the service was rated as Good.

“The vast majority of the findings demonstrate a good service that is delivering safe and effective care, and responds well to people’s needs.

“There was only one critical finding, which resulted in the service being found requires improvement overall.

“The Inspector found that three people had not had an annual review of their care plan.

“This was out of a total of 299 clients in all at the time of the inspection.

“They also found that some reviews had been recorded on the wrong (but similar) paperwork. We argued that it was disproportionate to find a breach of a regulation based on this finding.

We are very disappointed that the CQC insisted this was a breach, and as a result the service is rated as Requires improvement.”