A care agency has been placed into special measures after inspectors were “deeply concerned” to find a closed culture with leaders allegedly “pressuring staff to be dishonest”.

Sambhana Care Ltd, based in Hopewell Business Centre, Chatham, has had its rating dropped from “requires improvement” to “inadequate”.

It provides personalised home care services for older people and adults with learning disabilities.

The service was looking after 39 people at the time the Care Quality Commission (CQC) held an inspection, which happened in January.

It was following up on two warning notices that were issued at its last inspection in July 2024, due to concerns around people’s safety and management.

In the report, it said: “We found the quality of the service had deteriorated and there were now eight breaches of regulation relating to the culture of the service, risk management, staffing, recruitment, safeguarding, governance, consent and maintaining people’s dignity.

“We found there was a closed culture within the service, the provider was not open and transparent about incidents that had happened.

“These incidents had not been reported when they happened, and the provider did not provide accurate information when asked about them.”

Sambhana Care Ltd says since the inspection, it has made “significant changes” and ensured standards are raised with “immediate effect”.

While some clients and their relatives praised the service, those who didn’t have someone to speak on their behalf hadn't always received safe care and support.

The inspector also noted that one person had fallen three times while home alone but leaders hadn’t investigated or acted to prevent this risk in the future.

Serena Coleman, CQC deputy director of operations in the south, said: “When we inspected Sambhana Care Ltd, we were deeply concerned to find a closed culture, in which leaders were actively dishonest and encouraged staff to do the same, which didn’t protect people from harm or improve their care.

“We found that when people had experienced harm or made allegations of abuse, leaders hadn’t investigated these incidents or reported them to outside organisations such as CQC and the local authority as legally required, and in one case had pressured staff to be dishonest about what happened. This is how a closed culture developed.

“Staff told inspectors they’d been asked to change records about an incident in which a person was left without care for three days.

“This was because leaders hadn’t told staff they were home from hospital. This is unacceptable.

“Staff told us they were distraught at their actions, but felt they had no choice because they could lose their jobs or sponsorships to work in the UK.

“I want to praise those staff who were brave enough to come forward, as speaking up in these circumstances is not easy but is important and helps to give CQC a true picture of people’s care.

“When inspectors told leaders to raise these incidents, the information they provided was still inaccurate and missing details.”

She added: “Leaders had stopped one person from having visitors to their home, though we saw no evidence they’d been unhappy with this, replacing it with a weekly trip to their religious meeting place.

“They hadn’t assessed this person’s mental capacity when making this decision but decided this is what they’d want, which could violate their rights. This decision put them at higher risk of isolation, depression and accidents.

“During this inspection, leaders continued to be defensive about their actions. They’d acted without consideration for the people in their care and their response to this showed they had little regard for people’s wellbeing.”

CQC has begun the process of taking regulatory action to address these concerns, which Sambhana Care Ltd has the right to appeal.

“They’d acted without consideration for the people in their care and their response to this showed they had little regard for people’s wellbeing.”

Tony Rana, managing director of the care agency, said: “We know the findings of the report are not acceptable which is why we took action to ensure our clients receive the best possible care going forward.

“Our management structure and culture has been transformed with the appointment of an operations manager who has more than 30 years experience in domiciliary care.

“We also have a new highly experienced registered manager and nominated individual who is responsible for liaising with the CQC.

“We have implemented a new robust training programme to ensure all staff are complying with CQC standards, introduced new governance and policies that are being adhered to, and put a sustainable action plan in place to ensure standards continue to improve.

“Our priority is to provide personalised care, ensuring our clients are safe and well looked after in their own homes.”