A NATIONAL care agency has begun closing its York branch after it was rated inadequate and criticised for poor risk management.

Allied Healthcare, which supports people in their own homes in York, Harrogate and Northallerton, says it will transfer its remaining care packages to other branches by June 17.

The agency’s York office in Audax Road, Clifton Moor was inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on March 9 and 29.

This was planned to check whether Allied Healthcare had made the improvements required after being rated ‘requires improvement’ last year.  But last week, the agency received a worse report, with the ‘inadequate’ rating leading to its York branch being placed in special measures.

Allied Healthcare was marked inadequate under the CQC’s ‘safe’ and ‘well-led’ headings, while it scored ‘requires improvement’ for how effective, caring and responsive it was.

Inspectors stated: “During this inspection we found that not all care plans and risk assessments had been updated and there were still examples of ineffective risk management.

“Where care plans and risk assessments had been reviewed and updated risk assessments were being appropriately used to keep people safe, however, we were concerned about the lack of progress in addressing concerns with care plans and risk assessments identified during our last inspection of the service in April 2015.”

The report added: “People were supported to take their prescribed medication, although medication administration records (MARs) were not always well maintained and audits were not being effectively used to address these concerns.”

It also stated: “The system used to audit and monitor the quality of records kept was not sufficiently robust enough to identify concerns and drive improvements.”

Inspectors added: “People we spoke with raised concerns about the management of the service and the lack of communication.”

A statement from the agency said: “Allied Healthcare undertakes 17 million visits a year, and our extensive experience together with our investment in training and technology means that issues with our care delivery are uncommon.

“Where they do occur, our approach is to work closely with commissioning bodies to address and resolve any issues thoroughly and promptly.  “We acknowledge that we had a number of issues in York, where it has become increasingly difficult to offer the high standard of care that we deliver in other areas around Yorkshire within the financial parameters available.

“In light of this, Allied Healthcare has begun the process to conclude its York based services and is transferring remaining care packages to other Allied Healthcare branches by June 17.”