A Southend in-home care service has been blasted for failing to act after an elderly patient reported being bullied by a staff member.

Angel Solutions Community Care was given the worst possible rating by the national watchdog for care following an inspection in June.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated the service, which provides personal care to people living in their own houses, ‘inadequate’ overall.

Inspectors blasted the service, based in Princess Caroline House, High Street, for failing to identify and record risks to its users’ wellbeing and safety and noted that “not all people were safeguarded from potential abuse or protected from bullying”.

In one instance a person using the service reported feeling bullied by a member of staff, the CQC report said.

However, the CQC found no records to demonstrate action had been taken by the provider to investigate the concerns.

Inspectors said they discussed this with the manager, who said a conversation had been held with the member of staff, but this was not recorded, and the concerns had not been referred to Southend Council as part of safeguarding procedures.

Users of the service also told inspectors staff were irregular with their visiting times and failed to adhere schedules.

One person, who had asked for morning calls between 8am and 8.30am, told inspectors they had been forced to wait over two hours for staff to arrive just before 11am – with no contact from the service to explain they would be late.

Another person claimed the staff who supported them could suddenly change without notice and they were not made aware of the change until the member of staff arrived at their home.

The service was further criticised for failing to provide critical medication at ‘consistent’ and specific times. “This placed people at risk of receiving their medication too close together and not in line with the prescriber's instructions,” inspectors wrote.

The provider was praised for infection control policies and staff were said to be routinely tested for Covid-19 and supplied with adequate PPE.

A spokesperson for Angel Solutions said: “We are regulated by CQC and they conducted the inspection. We have received a copy of that report and have noted its findings and recommendations and if we have any concerns over anything mentioned in that report we will take it up with them directly.

“As a regulatory body we cannot comment on any of the findings or criticisms of CQC to the press. We will rather take note of the findings and work towards improving our current rating.”