A HOME-BASED care service has been told it 'requires improvement'.

A Care Quality Commission report identified issues in how safe, effective and well-led St Gregory's is.

Although it received a 'requires improvement' rating overall, the CQC report marked the level of care and how responsive the service is as 'good.' 

St Gregory's Homecare Ltd is based in Carnforth but has service users across the South Lakes.

At the time of the inspections on December 13, 2023 and February 2 this year, the service was supporting 77 people.

The report said the service supports older people and young adults living with dementia, physical disabilities, sensory impairments, mental health conditions and learning disabilities. 

The report recognised that the service has made 'significant efforts' following the last inspection to improve quality monitoring and governance systems. However, it said that these systems were not effective, and further changes were not sustained. 

One staff member admitted to the inspector 'you can't give the quality of care to the person' because they had to travel over large geographical distances from one home to another. Another said that it would be better to have more staff covering a smaller area. 

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The inspector wrote: "People told us they experienced inconsistencies in their care visit times, with these taking place earlier or later than planned. This remained an ongoing issue from previous inspections. The registered manager was reviewing this and making changes but we could not be assured these would improve people's experiences and outcomes.

"People's care was not always effective and did not always promote a good quality of life for people. People's care visits were not always consistent and this affected the majority of people using the service.

"One relative said, "It can be very chaotic. The times are all over the place, [person] is constantly ringing to find out when the carers are coming." Although staff had received training to support them in their roles, people and their relatives told us there were variations in the standard of care they received."

A spokesperson from St Gregory's said: "We recognise the findings of the CQC and we have an action plan in place to address any shortcomings."