12 October 2022
During a routine inspection
SureCare Southend is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 54 people using the service.
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 had experienced missed and late care visits and staff did not always stay for the length of the scheduled call time. People were not always informed about delays.
Staff had been safely recruited and relevant checks were completed, however, we were not satisfied staffing levels and deployment of staff ensured all people’s care needs were met in a timely way.
Staff knew how to keep people safe from harm. Risks to people had been identified, assessed and reviewed. However, we found the provider did not have robust processes in place to analyse incidents and share learning with staff in order to minimise the risk of reoccurrence.
We have made a recommendation about staff supervision.
People and their relatives told us they felt able to raise concerns; however, they were not confident they were being listened and responded to. We received mixed feedback around the effectiveness of the leadership of the service.
People told us, not all staff wore Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when providing care and support.
The providers governance arrangements did not provide assurance the service was well led, and regulatory requirements were not being met.
People’s medicines were being managed safely; we saw PRN protocols in place for people who needed their medicines as required.
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 the service under the previous provider was requires improvement (published April 2021). 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 the provider remained in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received from the local authority about missed and late calls, complaints and communication. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for SureCare Southend on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Enforcement and Recommendations
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. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.
We have identified breaches in relation to systems and processes and the monitoring of the overall quality of the service, which had not been established to do all that is reasonably practical to assess, monitor and mitigate risk to provide safe care and treatment to people using 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.