An Exmouth agency that cares for people in their own homes has been put into special measures after being found 'inadequate' by the Care Quality Commission.

The health watchdog said 1st React Healthcare, which was supporting 59 people with personal care at the time of the inspection, did not have "robust" systems in place to ensure staff attended calls in a timely way and some staff did not always stay for the correct amount of time.

All staff, people and relatives the CQC spoke to voiced concerns about "missed visits" and the difficulty in contacting the service.

Some missed visits meant people had no meal, and records did not always have a list of the medicines people were taking.

'Even staff who want to do a good job can't'

Staff said they did not always know what people needed when they visited them, and people did not see regular staff. One person had 12 different staff in a 7-day period.

In addition, all staff said they did not have time to stay the correct amount of commissioned time as they had lots of people to visit, with one individual saying "even staff who want to do a good job can't."

One staff member said they had found a person with "black, unwashed feet" as staff had not been completing their wash due to time constraints.

Another staff member's schedule for a weekend day had 29 visits, which is over 14 hours of deliverable care.

The CQC has put the service into special measures and will keep it under review and, if it does not propose to cancel the provider's registration, will re-inspect it within six months to check for significant improvements.

A 1st React Healthcare spokesperson said: "We are currently working closely with the local authorities to implement the changes the CQC inspection report has recommended."

The last rating for the service was 'good' in 2021.

Click here to read the CQC report.