The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has taken action to protect vulnerable people from harm after a south London care agency was rated inadequate.

GGW Care Limited, a domiciliary care service that supports people living in their own homes in Bromley and Surrey, has been put under special measures following an inspection in October.

The agency was found to lack "effective leadership", as well as have unfulfilled improvements from the previous inspection.

GGW Care Limited provides care to older people, people with physical disabilities, people with mental health needs, as well as people with dementia.

READ MORE: Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust rated 'good' by CQC

At the time of the inspection, the service was supporting 25 people with personal care.

The overall rating for GGW Care Limited has dropped from requires improvement to inadequate, as have the ratings for being safe and well-led.

Antoinette Smith, CQC deputy director of operations in London, said: "When we inspected GGW Care Limited, it was disappointing to find a lack of effective leadership and a lack of progress on the improvements we told them to make at our previous inspection.

"In addition to this, our latest inspection shows further areas where improvements are needed."

Ms Smith further added: "People who were using this service weren’t always safe as the service didn’t have good processes around recruitment.

"This meant they didn’t always hire staff safely, which could lead to having unqualified or inappropriate staff working with people."

News Shopper: The watchdog found GGW Care to be 'inadequate'The watchdog found GGW Care to be 'inadequate' (Image: Alamy/PA)

She also said that the Home Office removed GGW Care Limited's visa sponsorship license for not following their rules before the inspection.

This, along with the lack of appropriate training for staff, has placed the people under the care of this service at risk.

Ms Smith further added: "Our inspectors saw from the records that some people weren’t always being given their medicines safely, or sometimes at all.

"For example we saw two people that needed multiple doses of medication each day.

"Staff didn't always record whether each dose was given, creating a risk that they might not get their medications."

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The inspectors found that can plan records did not show people's needs under the Equality Act 2010, and staff were not given guidance for meeting people's diverse needs.

The CQC deputy director added that the watchdog "really disappointed" to see that some people’s care records "weren't always written in a respectful way".

She said: "In the care plan for one person with a developmental condition, it mentioned them having mood swings because of their illness and described their social interactions as abnormal.

"This is inappropriate and the service must do better to treat people with dignity."

However, the service did have enough staff to meet people's needs and there was a system to manage and respond to complaints.

The service has been placed under special measures, which means it will be kept under close review by CQC and monitored to check sufficient improvements have been made.

She concluded: "We’ve reported our findings to the provider, and they know what they must address.

"We will monitor the service to ensure people are receiving safe care.

"If sufficient progress hasn’t been made, we will not hesitate to take action to ensure people’s safety and wellbeing."

The full report will be published on the CQC website in the next few days.