A CARE agency has been told to improve by the health watchdog in its latest inspection.

Cotswold Care Unlimited has been awarded an overall requires improvement rating in the report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The agency, which supports people in their homes, was rated as requiring improvement in three key areas - safe, effective and responsive.

They received a good rating for caring, but an inadequate in the well-led category.

The agency offer care to adults over 65, people with dementia and those with physical disabilities.

The inspection took place on March 17 and the agency was given 48 hours’ notice because they needed to be sure someone would be in the location.

The agency was rated ‘inadequate’ in the well-led section of the report addressing the issue that no system is in place to allow the registered manager to monitor the quality of the service which meant any required improvement could not be identified.

“There was no evidence that people were involved in developing and reviewing the care and support that they needed," the report stated.

The only section that the care agency performed well in was the caring section - with the report stating that “people told us that during personal care they felt comfortable and safe and care was taken to preserve their dignity”.

The CQC last inspected the service in October 2013. At that inspection they found staff had not undergone the necessary checks during recruitment to ensure they were safe to work with people. Nearly three years later this latest inspection found the provider was still not following correct procedures.

“The service was not safe. No risk assessments on people’s care had been completed," the report staed.

But it also added: “care workers understood the importance of building relationships of trust and respect to enable people to feel confident and comfortable about care staff coming into their home.

The report said that staff spoke positively about management and said they all feel supported while referring to their relationship with their boss.

Owner of Cotswold Care Kate Mervyn-Smith said that in September 2015 the business suffered a personal tragedy and from then they have concentrated on their efforts to ensure no disturbance to client care.

“Our clients have always come first and that was reflected in the report. Feedback from clients was good. They feel safe and well cared for which is our priority.

“Since the inspection in March we have working alongside the CQC to update, improve and bring all our paperwork up to scratch ensuring that we are compliment with the CQC requirements. We feel proud that this has been successfully turned around in such a short period.”

She said the agency was determined to have a good report in their next inspection: “We will continue to improve our systems and paperwork to ensure we have a good report in our next inspection and as always we will keep focused and passionate about the care we deliver to our clients," she added.