Archived: Devana Care

Updated 4 March 2021

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This was a focused inspection to check whether the provider had met the breaches of regulations identified in September 2019 in relation to Regulation 12 Safe care and treatment and Regulation 17 Good governance of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes, which may be in specialist housing.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included previous inspection reports, information received and notifications that had been sent to us and we sought feedback from the Local Authority. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke to one person who used the service and we spoke with three members of staff including the registered manager, team leader, resources managers and support workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care plans and a variety of records in relation to the management of medicines and the service including audits, policies and procedures. We also reviewed staff training and supervision records.

After the inspection

We looked at quality assurance records and telephone conversations were held with one further member of staff and a relative of a person receiving support from the service.

Updated 4 March 2021

About the service

Devana Care is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. They support older people, who may have a sensory impairment, dementia, mental health needs and/or a physical disability.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. At the time of the inspection, four people were in receipt of personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

At the last inspection in September 2019 we found there were breaches of two regulations. At this inspection we found the required improvements had not been made and the registered person was still in breach of the same two regulations. These are, safe care and treatment and governance of the service.

Medicines were not safely managed. For example, handwritten additions to medicines administration records were seen which did not contain the information required of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance.

People were not always protected from the risks of harm. For example, risk assessments in people's care plans in their homes were not all up to date. This meant, when providing care, staff did not always have details of actions to take to reduce risks to people who use the service and keep them safe.

The registered person had not implemented an effective system to ensure their compliance with the fundamental standards. For example, the registered person failed to maintain an accurate, complete and contemporaneous record in respect of each person using the service.

Staff had received training in topics the registered manager considered mandatory. The registered person had not followed up on the recommendation made at the last inspection relating to referring to best practice guidance regarding staff training.

Employment checks, including criminal record checks had been obtained for new staff. Staff had received training in safeguarding adults and were aware of their responsibilities to protect people from the risks of abuse. They were able to state what action they would take in response to witnessing abuse, including contacting the local authority safeguarding team.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 31st October 2019) and there were two breaches of regulations. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found enough improvements had not been made and the provider remained in breach of regulations. The service remains rated requires improvement.

Why we inspected:

We carried out an announced focused inspection to follow up on regulation breaches and a recommendation. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe, effective and well-led which contain those requirements.

The ratings for the key questions caring and responsive from the inspection in September 2019 were used in calculating the overall rating for the service. The overall rating for the service has not changed.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Devana Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.