Lincoln care agency ‘requires improvement’ for fourth time

A care provider in Lincoln has been ranked as requiring improvement by CQC inspectors – the fourth time in a row it has been given this score.

Sagecare, based at Birchwood Shopping Centre and run by Sage Care Limited, is a domiciliary care agency – meaning it offers help and support to patients in their own homes.

It reportedly had ‘inconsistent’ leadership and medicine wasn’t always managed effectively.

Some 181 people were recorded as using the service by the Care Quality Commission when it commenced an inspection of Sagecare in November last year.

The agency began a rather unfortunate trend of amassing ‘Requires Improvement’ scores from the Care Quality Commission in 2018, followed by the same score in 2019 and 2021.

Each inspection found breaches of regulation, and it was hoped that the most recent report would show improvements for Sagecare to move it towards a Good rating.

Instead, the CQC’s report, published in March 2023 and evaluating the practice from November 2022 to the start of January 2023, found many of the same issues appearing again.

Inspectors found that medicines and risks were not always managed effectively, while staff recruitment was not always safe and systems in place were not effective in sustaining improvement at the service.

Sagecare was found to have remained within the breach of regulations that first prompted a ‘Requires Improvement’ score in 2018.

Management and leadership was labelled “inconsistent” in the report and they said not enough improvements had been made to justify a boost in rating.

However, people using the service and their relatives were quick to tell the CQC inspectors that they felt safe and well cared for by Sagecare staff.

Sage Care Limited were contacted for comment, but no reply was given.

The CQC says it will be meeting with the provider to discuss the changes needed to improve the score.

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