A care agency in Melksham is not providing a safe service to the disabled and elderly patients, they are looking after, according to a report published by the health watchdog.

Following concerning information given to the Care Quality Commission received, MiHomecare was given two days' notice of a three-day inspection in January and February over three days.

As well as inconsistent medicine administration records, the company, managed by Ester Fenech, was found to be in breach of five regulations under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The report, published this week, states there were not enough staff to keep patients safe and meet their needs. They were also not always given information about their patients' conditions of those they were supporting.

It adds: “One member of staff showed us that all work had been allocated for the forthcoming weekend, but there was no spare capacity. This meant that if a member of staff went sick or if there was an emergency, there was no staff to provide cover.

“One member of staff told us that During one weekend of January 31-February 1, five staff called in sick. This significantly impacted upon the service provided and some staff undertook over 20 visits in a day to people, to ensure the service was maintained. They said that this was not unusual.”

Families of those being cared for by MiHomecare told inspectors said they sometimes had to step in when carers showed up late or not at all otherwise their ill relatives could be left bedridden, and without food.

The agency received an overall ‘requires improvement’ rating and the safety of the service was rated ‘inadequate’. It received a ‘good’ rating for staff care.

However, a relative told the CQC an employee lied about how long they had spent with one day helping their sick mother. The report said: “One relative told us ‘I happened to be visiting my mother when the carer arrived. She The carer stayed for 15 minutes, and then filled in the paperwork and left. When I looked at it the paperwork she had signed to say she was here for 45 minutes. This can’t be right can it?’”

Inspectors also found people did not have the confidence to report any issues as their experiences of of calling the agency before had “not been positive”.

Frustrated that MiHomecare was not taking her complaints seriously, patient earlier this year Clare Campbell, 42, of Chadwick Close in Bowerhill, contacted the CQC.

It was after The former estate agent, who is registered disabled and suffers from a rare condition that paralyses her body for up to six hours, had to crawl downstairs for food and drink because carers did not show up to help her for 24 hours. She should have received three visits that day.

Social services have now agreed to pay for her partner to be her carer. She says she has lost trust in using any other care agencies and wants to take her concerns about MiCarehome to the Government ombudsman as she is worried elderly and disabled people using the service are unable to speak out.

“How on earth can social services be using this company? It is absolutely atrocious,” she added.

A MiHomecare spokesman from MiHomecare said: “The quality and safety of the care that we provide is our priority. We have improved our local management team, are implementing an action plan and working closely with the local authority to address the issues raised by the CQC.”

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “We are fully committed to ensuring residents in Wiltshire get the highest quality care and only work with providers who deliver this.

“If a provider is asked to make improvements we work closely with them to make sure they are put in place.”

Read the full report at cqc.org.uk/location/1-1501227471