Date of assessment: 16 September 2025 to 30 September 2025. We visited the office on 16 September 2025. Premier Care – Bradford branch is a domiciliary care agency, providing care and support for people living in their own homes. At the time of our assessment the service was supporting 98 people with personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. People’s call times were well organised, and people were supported by consistent staff, who had the training and support to be able to carry out their role. Recruitment was managed safely. Medicines were managed safely, and people’s health needs were met. There were clear processes in place to manage safeguarding events and a culture of learning lessons. Risks to people’s health, safety and wellbeing were assessed and regularly reviewed. Staff knew people well and understood the risks they were exposed to and how to support them. Staff were kind and caring, and actively promoted people’s independence, choice and control. The service had systems in place to get feedback about the quality of care, including surveys and reviews. The service was well managed and there were a range of audits and checks in place to ensure quality and safety was monitored and any shortfalls promptly addressed, to drive improvements. The provider was previously in breach of legal regulation in relation to good governance and medicines management. Improvements were found at this assessment and the provider is no longer in breach of legal regulations. We rated this service good at this assessment.
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Premier Care Bradford received an overall 'Requires Improvement' rating at this focused inspection, with continued regulatory breaches in medication management (Regulation 12 — Warning Notice issued) and governance (Regulation 17), marking the third consecutive inspection at this rating. Positive aspects included kind, person-centred staff, effective safeguarding processes, and a responsive registered manager who took prompt corrective action following inspection findings.
Concerns (4)
criticalMedication management — “gaps in signatures on Medicines Administration Records...time of administration was not always recorded...not assured there was the prescribed gap between doses which put people at risk of harm.”
criticalGovernance — “Audits and checks were in place. However, they had failed to identify the shortfalls...relating to the safe management of medication. This was the third consecutive inspection where the provider had failed to be compliant.”
minorMissed or late visits — “we received mixed feedback about the timings of the calls and people were not always informed if calls were going to be late. One relative said, 'The times of the calls are quite mixed up and varied.'”
minorIncident learning — “The service had a system for recording and monitoring accidents and incidents. This could be improved to ensure near-miss situations were also captured.”
Strengths
· Registered manager responded promptly to inspection findings, carrying out an audit and scheduling refresher medication training
· People and relatives reported feeling safe and described staff as kind and respectful
· Recruitment checks were robust and sufficient staffing levels were maintained
· Safeguarding processes were effective; staff understood how to recognise and report abuse
· Risk assessments covering mobility, nutrition, environment and mental/physical health were in place and regularly reviewed
Quality-Statement breakdown (7)
safe: Using medicines safelyRequires improvement
safe: Staffing and recruitmentRequires improvement
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and management; Learning lessons when things go wrong; Preventing and controlling infectionGood
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsRequires improvement
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringGood
well-led: Continuous learning and improving care; Working in partnership with othersGood