Understaffed Chingford care home hired employee without criminal record check or application form

Normanshire Care Services in Normanshire Drive was inspected in August last year by the CQC, who found one resident with “sustained bruising and scratches in different areas”.

One staff member, who had arrived in the UK two weeks earlier, was hired without an application form or criminal record check.

Staff also worked excessive hours at services managed by the provider, including an employee who worked a 72-hour week at two services and two who worked 24-hour stretches.

The report stated: “We found people were placed at risk of harm. Staffing levels were not adequate to meet people's needs.

“Safer recruitment practices were not always followed. Staff files reviewed showed gaps in relation to references, employment history and evidence of the right to work in the UK.”

A staff member reportedly told the inspector that they “really need training” because they “don’t have any experience in this area” and “people are really, really challenging”.

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Normanshire Care Services’ residents have severe learning disabilities and are mostly non-verbal.

Each requires one or two carers at a time, although one relative claimed they found two staff looking after four in one instance.

The inspectors noted that staff “told us they were required to carry out domestic tasks whilst providing care to people and often unable to give people the one-to-one care they need”.

The report said: “One relative told us on one occasion they had visited their relative and found boiling water on the cooker with no care staff around as they were busy with cleaning tasks.”

However, manager Qasim Mahmood said he had challenged the CQC report as this claim was “unjustified and wrong information”.

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The staff member hired without references, application form or criminal record check was taken off the rota until these could be completed on the third day of the inspection.

The inspection also found a female member of staff was allocated to work alone with one resident when doing so put her at risk, to which the registered manager reportedly said the problem was “in the past and was not a current issue”.

Mr Mahmood also reportedly told inspectors the resident found injured had “thin skin” and that they had “verbally spoken with the staff member to remind them to record the outcomes”.

The report added: “These discussions had not been recorded, and no further action was taken by the registered manager. Therefore, we could not verify appropriate action had been taken.”

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Relatives were divided in their stated views on staff at the home, with one complaining they were “unqualified and not trained” while another said: "Most of the staff are caring, they can only do their best under the conditions."

The report added: “During our visit we observed staff spoke in a caring and kind manner to people. Staff spoke passionately about people and the care they provided.

“However, we found care was not always delivered to people in line with their plan of care.”

The care home's response

Mr Mahmood, who manages another service in Longwood Gardens, rated good, said neither management nor staff had received “any formal complaint from any of the family members of our residents”.

He said: “We have worked really hard to put measures in place to get ourselves back on track and hopefully CQC can come with an open mind to see the positive changes.

He added that areas addressed in the report had been “reviewed” to make sure they are “more robust and person-centred”.

At its previous inspection in December 2017, the service was rated good in all areas.

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