NURSING staff at an agency are not being trained correctly, leading to patients feeling ‘unsafe’, watchdog inspectors have warned.

Bosses at B Pro Nursing Agency based on the Thames Estuary Industrial Estate in Canvey have been ordered to step up efforts to improve the service.

The Care Quality Commission rated the agency as ‘requiring improvement’.

A CQC report into the agency raised worrying concerns over a lack of training: “Staff were unable to work out if the patients had taken their medicines or not,” said the report.

“Not all staff had received medicines training and competency assessments before they administered medicines to people.”

Patients too raised concerns about not feeling safe.

One told the inspectors: “I don’t feel safe with the care all the time, sometimes they don’t answer the out- of- hours phone when carers have not arrived. I get in a panic when they don’t answer.”

The report added: “The service was not well-led. The provider had failed to ensure adequate oversight of the service.

“People told inspectors the service was chaotic and disorganised. Staff did not feel valued or listened to or supported through supervision.

“There was a negative culture at the service. The provider did not have robust and effective systems and processes to ensure the quality and safety of the service.”

Patients in the agency care also told the inspectors staff knew how to provide care for them but sometimes lacked training and experience.

The watchdog noted that training and induction in place was not robust enough to support staff to carry out their roles meaning staff were reliant on previous training.

The care watchdog instructed the bosses to ensure improvements were made ahead of the next inspection.

The regulator also highlighted the need for more assurances regarding staff’s skill and competencies in all areas.

The agency was providing personal and nursing care to 17 people of all ages, at the time of the inspection.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care.

The agency was contacted by the Echo for a comment on the criticisms in the report but no response was received.