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Tusla care provider linked to UK service with ‘unsafe practices’

Inspection by UK health regulator identified ‘unsafe’ practices in home care company

Jossy Akwuobi, owner of Ideal Care, where standard of checks carried out on prospective care staff were 'grossly inadequate'. Photograph: X and LinkedIn profiles

Jack Power
Wed Mar 6 2024 - 06:00

The owner of a company that ran accommodation for children in State care, and was found to have “fabricated” screenings of staff, has links to a UK provider of home care services previously criticised for its “unsafe” recruitment practices.

Last week The Irish Times reported Tusla, the child and family agency, stopped placing children in care into emergency accommodation run by Ideal Care Services, after it identified serious concerns with the company. It was deemed to have put young people at risk by failing to carry out proper background checks on staff, having “fabricated” pre-employment screenings and altered Garda vetting files.

Ideal Care, which is owned and run by Jossy Akwuobi (45) from Tyrrelstown, Dublin, was paid nearly €9 million by Tusla in the past two years, before the agency cut ties with the company. An internal July 2023 report said the standard of checks carried out on prospective care staff were “grossly inadequate to safeguard vulnerable young people”.

Company records show Mr Akwuobi is also a director of a UK firm that provides home care support to the elderly and people with disabilities and mental health issues, on behalf of local councils.

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An inspection of the company, Tenda Hands Homecare, last year found it “did not follow safe recruitment procedures” and that its care workers “were not sufficiently vetted”. The Care Quality Commission, the UK healthcare regulator, said its inspectors had identified breaches of safe care, staff recruitment and proper governance.

The January 2023 inspection report said staff had been allowed to work while awaiting vetting clearance, putting people “at risk of being supported by care workers who may potentially not be suitable to support vulnerable people”.

The inspection said vetting of one employee had shown they had been cautioned over an offence, but there was no evidence Tenda Hands Homecare had followed up on this. The report said it was “unsafe” to allow the employee care for people unsupervised until the matter had been examined by the company.

The company has an address in Harrow, England, and is owned by Rita Uche Okoroba, who is its chief executive. Ms Okoroba said all issues identified in the inspection had been “promptly addressed” by the company.

Mr Akwuobi has been a director of Tenda Hands Homecare since January 2022, filings show. He did not respond to requests for comment on his involvement with the company.

Ideal Care, which has been referred to the Garda over vetting shortcomings identified by Tusla, had in recent years been one of the largest providers of unregulated accommodation for children in care, known as special emergency arrangements.

The company is still involved in providing home care supports for the Health Service Executive (HSE) in north Dublin. The HSE area said Tusla had flagged concerns about the company last July, related to “registration of references, qualifications and Garda vetting”.

A HSE spokesman said it had examined the service provided by Ideal Care, reviewing files and speaking to patients receiving home care support, but “no areas of significant concern were identified” during the review. Ideal Care has been paid €339,000 to provide home care supports to people in the HSE north Dublin area over 2022 and 2023.

Mr Akwuobi, who set up Ideal Care in 2018, previously worked as a manager at the Peter McVerry Trust. A spokesman for the homelessness charity confirmed Mr Akwuobi had been an employee until January 2020. The trust had “assisted” Tusla with its inquiries into Ideal Care after the State agency contacted the charity, he said.

Jack Power

Jack Power

Jack Power is acting Europe Correspondent of The Irish Times

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