A Haringey based campaign group has voiced its concern over home care after a “damning” report.

Save Autism Services Haringey (SASH) issued a statement on Tuesday raising a number of questions for Haringey Borough Council and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following an inspection of care provider Sevacare Haringey which found them to be inadequate.

Sevacare is the largest provider of home care in Haringey delivering services to 311 people, almost a quarter of all home car clients. 

The people they care for have a range of disabilities including dementia, mental illness, physical disability and learning disability.

The statement from SASH said: “With the council committed to a further £24.5m adult care cuts between now and 2018, SASH asks how will Haringey Council ensure Sevacare provides good quality care in line with legal requirements?

“Why did the CQC decide not to close Sevacare Haringey given the unacceptable and unsafe standard of care found?

“If the CQC closes Sevacare, what plans does the Council have to ensure vulnerable users continue to receive quality care?”

In response to ensuring Sevacare provide good quality care the council said this question was best put to the CQC as they are the regulator.

However on the issue of continuity of care a Haringey Council spokesperson said: “The council has setup an Improvement Board, consisting of senior managers from the council and Sevacare.

“This Board will oversee the implementation of a step-by-step plan to address the CQC’s concerns. As part of this process the council will also be undertaking unannounced and regular spot checks of Sevacare, to ensure that improvements are being made.

“All current Sevacare clients have been notified of the outcome CQC’s inspection and council officers are available to meet with any Sevacare clients and help those who wish to change care providers to do so.”

An inspection by the CQC in December of last year found that the level of care being provided left people at “significant risk”.

In summarising the findings the report said: “We found overall that people using the service were at significant risk of receiving inappropriate or unsafe care.”

This report was heavily criticised by independent consumer watchdog Healthwatch Haringey who labelled “unacceptable” and “damning”.

A spokesman for Healthwatch Haringey said: ““The CQC report on Sevacare is a damning reflection of the quality of the services this company provides to vulnerable people in the community.

“To have four out of the five quality criteria assessed as 'inadequate', including the safety of the service, is completely unacceptable and the commissioners of these services should also be taking action to ensure that the services are radically improved or terminate their contracts and commission an alternative provider.”

The Care Quality Commission has been approached for comment.