A company providing at-home care for the elderly and disabled failed to correctly report a death and allegations of thefts, an inspection found.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) lowered its rating of TerraBlu Homecare in Tunbridge Wells from 'good' to 'requires improvement' in a damning report.

It came after the healthcare watchdog received concerns about the practices of the service based in Calverley Park Crescent.

TerraBlu Homecare looks after around 40 elderly and disabled people, helping them with things like food and personal hygiene in their own homes.

Inspectors were concerned about the management of medicines, that clients were not properly safeguarded from abuse and the service's failure to notify the CQC of serious incidents.

It was noted two people had reported a staff member stealing from them which was not reported to authorities.

TerraBlu Homecare said it was only aware of one incident, which involved an allegation that a carer had stolen money from a woman with dementia.

Upon investigating, the service said 14p had been misplaced, but the woman's family did not want to take the matter further.

However, this should have been reported to Kent County Council for an independent probe.

It was also found the CQC was not notified about important events that had occurred.

This included two reports of abuse, but also the death of a man found by his carer on the floor of his home after a fall.

TerraBlu said it had not alerted the CQC as he died in hospital, and not under its direct care.

The CQC report also highlighted the poor management of medicines.

It stated: "This meant it was difficult to verify if people had received their medicines safely.

"Records did not list which medicines staff were giving.

"One person's Medicines Administration Records (MAR) showed that staff had been giving a different amount of medicines to what was listed on the MAR.

"Another person's MAR had missing dates and gaps."

'We are taking swift action to address the concerns raised by the inspectors'

Issues were raised over recruitment, with several staff members having gaps in their employment history which were not addressed.

As part of the inspection, relatives and clients were asked for their views on the duty of care with most replying with positive feedback.

One person said: "I am definitely safer with the carers coming.

"I have an awkward shower which I could have changed but I don't want the trouble, my mobility isn't good and I really need them and they are very helpful."

Another service user said: "I feel much safer with the carers, I have a tendency to stumble or get a bit dizzy so washing is much better with the carers here."

'The pandemic has obviously been a hugely challenging time for the care sector, particularly with record staff vacancies'

TerraBlu must now create a report explaining what action they will take to address the points raised by the CQC

Responding to the report, managing director Richard Gould said: "We are naturally disappointed that the inspectors felt that some aspects of our service require improvement, however we are encouraged that many of their concerns are about record keeping and processes, rather than the quality of the care we provide.

“We are taking swift action to address the concerns raised by the inspectors so that we can evidence to the inspectors as soon as possible that we have the necessary records to demonstrate the quality of the care that we provide.

“This includes updating our safeguarding protocols to ensure they are in line with latest guidance and re-enforcing our medicine administration protocols.”

“The pandemic has obviously been a hugely challenging time for the care sector, particularly with record staff vacancies. We focused our attention on continuing to provide the best possible care that we could for our clients to enable them to enjoy the best possible quality of independent life during this particularly challenging time.

“We acknowledge that this may have been at the expense of systems and procedures.

“We are further encouraged by the many positive comments the inspectors received from our clients and their relatives. We will also be liaising with them to explain this report and the measures we are taking to address the concerns raised so they are reassured about the level of care they or their loved one receives.”