Archived: Three Score Years & Ten

Updated 24 August 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 24 and 30 June 2015. The first day of the inspection was unannounced, so that the registered manager did not know we would be visiting. On the second day the registered manager knew that we would be returning to complete the inspection. The inspection team consisted of two social care inspectors.

Before the inspection we reviewed all of the information we held about the service. This included looking at the information we held relating to any complaints, concerns or notifications we had received about the service. Notifications are information about changes, events or incidents that the provider is legally obliged to send us within the required timescale. We also spoke with the responsible commissioning officers from the local authority commissioning team and the clinical commissioning group about the service.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return (PIR), because we moved the timing of this inspection forward as a result of information we had received about the service. The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. Because we had not asked for the PIR we talked to the registered manager about these things during the inspection.

At the time of our inspection visit the service was only providing personal care [the regulated activity] to one person. The registered manager informed us that they intended to cease providing this service in August 2015 and not provide any further personal care after that. It was their intention to then de-register the service.

The inspectors spent time talking with the person who received personal care. We also spoke with the registered manager, the care manager and the two care staff who were provided personal care at the time of our visits.

During the inspection visit we reviewed a range of records. This included the care records relating to the person receiving personal care services. We also looked at three staff files, including staff recruitment and training records, records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the registered provider.

Updated 24 August 2015

This inspection took place on 24 and 30 July 2015. The first day of the inspection was unannounced, so that the registered manager did not know we would be visiting. On the second day the registered manager knew that we would be returning to complete the inspection. At the time of our inspection one person was receiving personal care [the regulated activity].

Three Score Years & Ten provide a range of support services, including personal care in people’s own homes [the regulated activity], cleaning, a gardening and handyman service, befriending and advocacy. Support is provided to people living in the Stockton area. The office is located centrally on Yarm Road and is on the ground floor, with parking available outside.

The service has a registered manager, who has been registered with us in respect of this service since 16 April 2012. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff were aware of safeguarding procedures and could describe what they would do if they thought somebody was being mistreated, but safeguarding procedures needed to be updated and some staff hadn’t received training on abuse and safeguarding.

At our last inspection we had asked the registered provider to make improvements to the way staff were recruited. At this inspection we found that safe arrangements were in place for staff recruitment and that enough staff were available to provide people’s care. The person who used the service told us that they had a small and consistent staff team visiting them and that the staff were reliable.

The service had health and safety related procedures, including systems for reporting and recording accidents and incidents. The care records we looked at included risk assessments, which had been completed to identify any risks associated with delivering the person’s care. However, staff reported that safety related systems for protecting staff did not always work effectively. For example, a lack of checks to ensure that lone workers were safe at the end of their working shift and an emergency ‘on call’ system that did not always result in prompt assistance being available to staff when needed.

Procedures were in place for assisting people with medicines, but the service was not helping anyone with medicines at the time of our visit. The registered manager informed us that they did not intend to provide help with medicines again in the future.

People were not always cared for by staff who were appropriately supported or provided with appropriate training. However, the person who used the service told us that their staff were competent and knew what was expected of them. Staff told us they did not always feel well supported by their management.

This service supports people in their own homes and only provides help with meal preparation and eating and drinking where this has been agreed as part of the person’s individual care plan. We saw that information about the help someone needed with meal preparation, eating and drinking was included in their care plans where this was appropriate.

The staff we spoke with could describe what they would do if someone was unwell or needed medical support during a care visit.

The person who used the service told us that staff were caring, treated them well, respected their privacy and encouraged their independence. Staff were able to describe how they worked to maintained people’s privacy and independence.

People’s care records showed that their needs had been planned in a person centred way. The person who used the service told us that they were involved in setting up their care, but had not been involved in any formal reviews. The person using the service told us that any requested changes to their care, such as cancellations or changes to times, had been made appropriately.

The person who used the service had written information about the formal complaints process available in their care file. Records showed that complaints had been investigated and responded to personally by the registered manager.

The person using the service told us that they were happy with their care and sad that the company had decided to cease providing a personal care service.

Effective governance systems were not in place and the required records were not always maintained or available. Overall we found that the service was not always well led and that management systems were not always fully in place or robust.

We found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.