A privately-owned care organisation that provided personal care services even though it was not registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as required by law has been fined £4,000.

As it is an offence under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to carry out a regulated activity without being registered with the CQC, the independent regulator issued a fixed penalty notice to Independence Enabling Limited in Honiton, Devon after a director at the company admitted to providing care services unregistered over a three year period.

The CQC claims that home care services were administered by a number of staff members at the organisation to a child with cerebral palsy.

Deputy chief inspector of Adult Social Care at the CQC, Sally Warren, commented: “The law requiring care agencies to register with the Care Quality Commission is there to protect people who need care in their own homes. That ensures that all registered providers are then subject to a system of monitoring and ongoing inspection to make sure that standards are being maintained.”

She continued: “Providers of personal care services deal in private with people whose circumstances can often make them vulnerable, and who may not be able to report abuse or poor care. In these circumstances, we will not hesitate to take further action to protect people from providers who ignore the requirements of the law.”