We carried out a review of the data available to us about Personal Home Care Services Ltd on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Personal Home Care Services Ltd, you can give feedback on this service.
Personal Homecare Services Ltd is a domiciliary care agency that provides support to people in their own homes. It provides a service to younger and older adults, people with physical disabilities, sensory impairments, mental health conditions or dementia. The service's office is based in Oldham, and support is provided to people in surrounding areas. At the time of this inspection three people were using the service.
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. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were protected from the risks of abuse and harm and people said they trusted staff to keep them safe. Staff had received training in safeguarding people. Recruitment checks were robust to ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable adults. People received visits from regular care workers.
People's needs were risk assessed and their care plans included various risk assessments which provided staff with the information they needed to manage the identified risk. Staff received training in infection control and told us personal protective equipment (PPE) was readily available to them.
Governance systems provided effective oversight of the service. A range of audits has been implemented which were completed on a regular basis. The registered manager worked effectively in partnership with other health and social care organisations to achieve better outcomes for people using the service.
Staff praised the registered manager and the nominated individual, they felt supported and valued. Staff told us, “All staff members are dedicated to the job and give a good service. The clients are well looked after,” “I would definitely recommend [the service] to a family member” and, “[Management] and the staff are great.”
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 27 August 2019) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. 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 improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 01 July 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. Following the last inspection, the provider completed an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment, fit and proper persons employed and good governance.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe and well-led which contain those requirements. We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Personal Homecare Services Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
This service is a domiciliary care agency that provides support to people in their own homes. It provides a service to younger and older adults, people with physical disabilities, sensory impairments, mental health conditions or dementia. The provider has one domiciliary care agency within their registration. The service's office is based in Oldham, and support is provided to people in surrounding areas. At the time of the inspection it was providing a service to one person who was receiving personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Recruitment checks were not robust to ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable adults before being appointed. The registered person had not ensured that all the information specified in Schedule 3 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 was available for each person employed.
We found the service was not following the provider’s medicine policies and PRN (as and when required medicine) protocols were not in place for prescribed PRN creams as needed. Adequate documentation was not being used to ensure medicines were administered safely and recorded accurately.
We reviewed a range of records and found improvement was required with record keeping as various records did not contain accurate dates.
People’s risk assessments were limited and did not look at areas such as moving and handling and nutrition and hydration. We have made a recommendation about assessing and reviewing risks.
The service did not routinely provide end of life care; however, people did not have the option to disclose and record their end of life wishes as part of their care planning. We have made a recommendation about giving people the option to make their end of life wishes known.
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.
People told us staff were kind, courteous and sensitive. One person said, “I trust the carers, I let them into my home. Nothing is too much”.
Staff we spoke with felt valued and supported by the management team. They were clear about the culture of the organisation and what was expected from them.
The service did not meet the characteristics of Good in all areas.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 2 July 2018 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection of the service since it was newly registered in July 2018.
Enforcement
We have identified three breaches in relation to regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment), regulation 17 (Good governance) and regulation 19 (Fit and proper persons employed) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Adequate documentation was not being used to ensure medicines were administered safely and recorded accurately. Improvement was required with record keeping as various records did not contain accurate dates. Recruitment checks were not robust to ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable adults before being appointed.
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 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.