Enforcement action has been taken against an agency that cares for the vulnerable and the elderly following a series of safeguarding issues.

Adejom Staffing Care, based in St George’s Business Park, Sittingbourne, has been rated “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The suspension was taken after nine breaches of regulations were identified by the CQC – including need for consent, safe care and treatment, safeguarding, staffing, fit and proper persons employed, and notification of other incidents.

An assessment took place in March and the damning report was published this month.

The report states: “Following the inspection, we took immediate action to restrict admissions to Adejom Staffing Care.

“We took urgent enforcement action and suspended the registration as a service provider in respect of the regulated activity of personal care.”

Inspectors looked at five categories. It rated Adejom Staffing Care as “inadequate” when it came to safety and how well-led the service was – the lowest possible rating. In terms of its care, effectiveness and responsiveness it was graded “requires improvement”.

The agency operates from the business park in Castle Road and provides personal care and support for children, adults and the elderly in their own homes in the Sittingbourne area.

It specifically looks after dementia patients and those suffering from mental health conditions and physical disabilities.

On its website, it says: “All our services are tailor-made to suit the individual's needs and preferences.

“Our aim is to maintain each client’s independence in the comfort of his or her own home for as long as possible.

“We pride ourselves on providing an outstanding level of private home care for you and your loved one.

“All our carers are DBS (formerly CRB) checked and have satisfactory references.”

The CQC had previously rated it “good” in all categories during an inspection in 2023.

In the latest report, it explained that the provider was not “transparent” during the assessment and refused to show their care planning system or evidence requested.

“People had not been safeguarded from the risk of abuse,” it said.

“Incidents were not always reported, investigated and improvements implemented.

“There were not systems and processes in place to ensure people received their medicines safely.”

The report goes on to say that staff had not received training and there was a “lack of oversight” of the service.

It added: “Care plans and risk assessments were not personalised and in some cases contained the wrong name, or gender of the person.”

Despite this, some clients and their relatives said they were “generally happy” with the care. However, it still did not meet the CQC standards.

The inspector was told that families were not kept up to date with their loved ones’ health and employees did not have “strong enough” English skills to support them.

One relative said: “Staff were there doing what they had to and it was bare minimum, it seemed like the staff didn’t want to be doing it.”

The CQC confirmed that since the inspection took place, it has taken immediate enforcement action and stopped new admissions, as well as suspending the agency as a care service provider.

Adejom Staffing Care did not respond to request for a comment.