Flames Healthcare Ltd Also known as Flames Healthcare

Flames Healthcare Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. They provide personal care to people living in their own homes.

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. At the time of the inspection 2 people were receiving personal care.

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

Recruitment processes were not always followed to ensure staff working with people were of good character. Staff worked with people prior to having satisfactory references from previous employers and before having a disclosure and barring check. This meant the provider could not be assured of staff's conduct in previous employment.

Risks to people had been assessed however the strategies to mitigate these risks had not always been recorded. The tasks people required support with on each call were not always documented.

Management oversight required improvement. When information was audited the registered manager did not always analyse the information fully to ensure improvements were identified and actioned.

People were supported by staff who knew them well and had training to understand their needs. People had a consistent staff team supporting them. People knew the registered manager and were able to contact them when required.

Staff protected people from infections by wearing appropriate personal proactive equipment such as gloves, masks and aprons as required.

People were protected from potential abuse and harm. Staff received safeguarding training and understood the procedures to follow if they had any concern. People felt safe with staff.

People were supported to access healthcare as needed. Staff liaised with healthcare professionals and ensured referrals were made if appropriate.

Staff were supported by the registered manager, they received regular supervisions and team meetings. Information was shared with staff.

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 21 June 2022) and there were multiple breaches of regulation.

Following our last inspection, we served a warning notice on the provider. We required them to be compliant with Regulations 17, 18 and 19 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, by 25 August 2022.

At this inspection we found the provider remained in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 22 April 2022.

We undertook this focused inspection to check and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements. Breaches of legal requirements were found.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has not changed from requires improvement. 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 Flames Healthcare Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified continued breaches in relation to safe recruitment of staff and management oversight at this inspection.

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

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

We will request an action plan from 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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Flames Healthcare Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. They provide personal care to people living in their own homes. 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. At the time of the inspection eight people were receiving personal care.

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

The provider failed to ensure safe recruitment checks were carried out and available for staff who worked in the service. Risks related to COVID-19 had not always been reduced through staff testing. Medicines records did not contain directives to enable staff to administer medicines safely. Risks assessments and care plans relating to people’s care did not always detail how staff could keep people safe.

Care plans were not always person centred or contain factual up to date information within them. Systems and processes were not always effective in ensuring all documents were accurate, complete and up to date. Audits completed had not identified the concerns we found on inspection. The manager was in the process of improving how the oversight of the service was completed.

People told us staff were kind and caring and that people felt safe with staff. Staff respected people's right to privacy and dignity and promoted independence. Staff supported people to live healthy lives and contacted health professionals as required. People and their relatives knew how to complain and were confident their concerns would be dealt with.

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, however, documents relating to best interests had not always been completed.

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 19 January 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on a newly registered service.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to infection prevention and control, medicines, safe recruitment, staff training and oversight of the service at this inspection.

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

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.