A care provider has been rated inadequate and placed in special measures by the health watchdog after inspectors found home visits were often late or cancelled.

Birchwood Care Services, in Speldhurst, dropped from a 'good' to an 'inadequate' rating following an unannounced inspection in November.

The family-run agency provides care and support to people living in their own homes in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells – with domestic chores, shopping, bathing, medication and other personal needs.

At the time of inspection on November 17 and 18, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found there was not a registered manager, and there had not been one since September 2021.

A manager had been overseeing the service since September 2022 and was in the process of applying to become the registered manager.

The overall rating has dropped to inadequate after the CQC found the quality of care had reduced due to short staffing and poor oversight and leadership.

The ratings for well-led and safe have also dropped from good to inadequate, but the other three factors – effective, caring, and responsive to people's needs – were not reviewed and have remained at a good rating.

The inspection found that due to being short-staffed, the service used a number of agency carers, and the report said there was a lack of oversight, scrutiny and governance from the management.

It was also found carers were late and many visits were cancelled at short notice, meaning there was a reliance on people's families to support their loved ones instead.

The inspectors also found that because people were not consistently told if their care call was going to be late, this caused them anxiety.

The CQC found that checks and audits were not effective or completed to monitor quality and safety.

Although people and staff had provided feedback to the manager, action had not been taken.

"The safety and wellbeing of our clients remains our top priority"

CQC head of inspection for adult social care Hazel Roberts said: “When we visited Birchwood Care Services, we were disappointed to find care standards had deteriorated since our last inspection, and leaders failed to have a grasp of the issues facing the service.

“The manager told us they had handed back four care packages to the local authority in October to reduce the risk of more calls being cancelled. However, calls continued to be cancelled and families were asked to provide support.

"Following the inspection, the provider reduced the number of care packages even more to ensure all future care calls could covered and people's needs met.

“As the service has been rated inadequate and placed in special measures, we will continue to monitor it closely to ensure people are safe. If we are not assured people are receiving safe care, we will not hesitate to take further action.”

Holly Lloyd, senior care co-ordinator at Birchwood Care Services said: "Birchwood Care has been providing excellent domiciliary and residential care for the people of Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells for the past 30 years.

"We are aware improvements need to be made to the service and would like to reassure our clients and their relatives that the safety and wellbeing of our clients remains our top priority.

"In response to the CQC inspection report, we have provided them with a comprehensive action plan to address the issues raised. We are currently working hard to implement this, and it will be completed by the end of January 2023.

"We are grateful to our care and administrative staff, who continue to provide people with a professional, kind, and caring service and are pleased CQC noted this."

The service was previously inspected in 2017 and was rated good in all aspects.