A person suffered with a “weeping and bleeding” wound for two months before a district nurse was finally contacted, a damning report on an at-home care service has revealed.

Professional Care Services Bucks Ltd, which provides personal care and support for people in their own homes in the villages around High Wycombe, has been rated inadequate after it’s first inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The service was slammed by those who use the service, with one complaining that different carers turn up most days, meaning they have to explain their needs all over again.

Meanwhile CQC inspectors found that issues with people’s skin was not always responded to in a “timely” manner.

One person’s daily notes referred to an “open wound that is weeping and bleeding” on August 1, 2020, with references to sores and wounds throughout August and into September.

The first record of a district nurse being contacted was on October 6, 2020.

Another person waited a week before receiving support from district nurses – with care workers making a note on January 25, 2021, about a patient’s bottom that was “bleeding and sore”.

Despite repeated requests for a nurse to attend, they were only contacted on February 1.

Inspectors also found that risk assessments were not routinely being carried out, with one person, who had diabetes and was an amputee, having no risk assessment in place detailing how staff should support them.

There were also complaints about staffing, with the registered manager agreeing they had suffered “challenges”.

One person using the service said: “Time keeping is chaotic, breakfast call can be half ten in the morning and then lunch at half eleven. The staff tell us that they have no travelling time, the evening call could be 4.30pm, 6pm or 7pm."

Another person had also complained that a care worker had been “very rough and shouts at her”, but no safeguarding referral had been made to the local authority.

Following the first day of inspections, CQC inspectors made eight safeguarding referrals to two local authorities because they found people did not have their medicines administered as prescribed and people were left vulnerable when their front doors were left unlocked.

The service also failed to protect people from risks when the manager recruited two staff members – despite being made aware that one had left their previous job before a disciplinary hearing could take place and another had disclosed they had committed a criminal offence.

Disciplinary records showed the two staff had committed acts of “gross misconduct” following their appointment and had been dismissed.

Medications were also not being administered properly, with one person requiring theirs first thing in the morning on an empty stomach before sitting upright for 30 minutes and not eating any food – but the company’s medication list showed it was being given at lunch time.

There was also mixed feedback from relatives on medications, with one saying they had not had any issues, while another said they sometimes find “tablets on the floor”.

CQC inspectors said they were “surprised” at a lack of personal protective equipment being worn when they were greeted by staff on the first day of their inspection despite the ongoing risk of coronavirus.

The manager said staff were in a “bubble” – but elderly people were being visited in their own homes for personal care.

One patient also told the CQC: “The carers often didn't wear masks properly, they often had them hanging off their faces and I phoned and reported to the manager but she said they were tested every two weeks and she wasn't bothered or interested about the masks."

Jackie Woodward, managing director of Professional Care Services Bucks, told the Bucks Free Press: “The health, safety and well-being of our service users is our number one priority, and we take all feedback from the Care Quality Commission very seriously.

“We are disappointed by the findings and are taking immediate actions to resolve the issues highlighted.

“We are working very closely with all stakeholders, including families and commissioning authorities, to implement improvements.

“We are determined to achieve, and maintain, the required standards and look forward to demonstrating improvements.”

The CQC will be back to reinspect within six months and have issued an “urgent notice of decision to impose conditions on the providers’ registration”.