Ivy&Sage Homecare Office

Ivy & Sage Homecare Office is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support for people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection they were providing support for five people of which four people received support with personal care. 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

The provider had not always assessed and mitigated identified risks to ensure care workers were provided with adequate information on how to reduce possible risks. The provider had a process in place for the administration of medicines but did not always ensure care workers had appropriate guidance to ensure medicines were administered as prescribed and in a safe manner.

People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not always support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not always support this practice. We have made a recommendation in relation to supporting people to be involved in making decisions about their care in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005)

The provider did not always have robust quality assurance procedures to enable them to identify issues and implement actions to make improvements when required.

The provider had recruitment processes which enabled them to identify new staff with the required skills and knowledge for the role. People and relatives felt the support provided was safe and met the identified care needs. The provider had developed procedures to investigate and identify lessons that could be learned in relation to complaints, safeguarding and incidents and accidents.

Care workers received appropriate training and supervision so they could meet people’s care needs. People’s care and support needs were assessed and reviewed regularly. People and relatives felt the care workers provided care in a kind and caring way. People’s privacy and dignity was respected. Care plans were written in a person-centred manner which identified people’s support needs and how they wanted their care provided. People’s communication support needs were identified.

The person we spoke with and a relative both told us they were happy with the care provided. The care plans identified people’s cultural and religious preferences.

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

This service was registered with us on 5 May 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

The inspection was conducted based on the date of registration.

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 safe care and treatment and good governance at 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 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.