A home care provider who supports 27 people in Slough has received an inadequate Care Quality Commission (CQC) rating, with concerns raised over 'excessive use of control and restraint'.

The site, at 61 Langley Road, provides supported living services in seven settings across the borough of Slough, to people with mental health conditions and associated needs, people living with learning disabilities and people with autism.

In November 2022, CQC inspectors visited two of the provider's settings and reviewed the care and support needs of eight people who are in the care of the service.

They found that "systems to protect people from abuse were not effective".

The report states: "Restrictive work practices were not proportionate to the level of risk of harm, where people were not legally subject to control or restraint.

"Some of these practices were unlawful and failed to protect people's rights."

Concerns were also raised over staff recruitment checks and "unsafe medicine practices" which placed people at increased risk of Covid-19 as "staff did not use personal protection equipment safely".

The health watchdog also raised issues surrounding care and support not being centred around individual needs and care plans not providing enough information for staff to understand how to meet peoples' needs.

"People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.

"Staff did not receive appropriate training to support people who were autistic, living with learning disabilities and with mental health conditions.

"We found not all staff had received relevant safeguarding training and, the provider's restrictive practices infringed on people's human rights, which amounted to institutional abuse and unlawful restraint.

"This was a breach of regulation 13 (Safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014."

During the CQC's visit they were reportedly unable to access the effectiveness of the provider's auditing systems due to the service not providing full access as requested during, and after the inspection. 

Collaborative Care Solutions, that provides the caree services at 61 Langley Road, said it is challenging a number of aspects of the report it does not feel reflect the care at the site.

Manager Mark Simon said: "We are very surprised at the report since we pride ourselves in the quality of care we deliver and our previous rating was 'good'.

"When the inspection took place the registered manager was abroad, hence some of the relevant information for the inspectors was not given to the inspectors in a timely manner.

"We currently have an action plan in place to rectify the issues identified and we are currently working with staff, residents and various stakeholders to improve our service.

"We have already put actions and plans in place to address the issues identified by CQC, such as additional training for all staff who work within the service.

"We never use control and restraint in the service and we are querying this aspect of the report with the CQC inspectors and are currently challenging various issues found in the report."