Background to this inspection
Updated
27 July 2022
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
This inspection was carried out by one inspector
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
Registered Manager
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. A manager had been appointed and was in the process of applying to be registered with CQC.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 6 June 2022 and ended on 30 June 2022. We visited two people in their homes on the 13 June 2022 and the location's office on 7 and 14 June 2022.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since it registered with CQC. This included statutory notifications and other information received. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We visited two people in their homes to ask about their views about the care they received from the service and to review their care records.
We spoke with the manager, the deputy manager, team leader and carer. The director of the service was also present throughout the inspection.
We contacted all eight of the staff including those we had spoken with at the inspection by email to ask their views about the service and received a response from five of them.
We reviewed a range of records and documents which included 2 people's care records and risk assessments, training information, two staff recruitment files, provider service improvement plan (SIP) and quality management policy and procedures. We received feedback from two health and social care professionals about their views about the service provided to people they support.
Updated
27 July 2022
About the service
Dependable care is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 15 people 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 told us staff treated people with kindness and respect. Comments included, “They are all lovely, they come in and get on with it” and “I have no complaints, they treat me very well and make sure I have everything I need.”
Since the service registered there had been a couple of managers. The new manager at the time of the inspection told us at the beginning of the inspection they were going through a process of change across the service. In their new role they had identified there were areas of concern that required addressing and had formulated a service improvement plan (SIP), setting out what needed to be achieved, by whom and by when and shared it with us.
The provider and manager were open and approachable. They acknowledged that things had been wrong and were taking action to improve and prevent re occurrence. They both recognised the importance of communication with people who use the service and staff.
At the time of the inspection there was not a manager registered with CQC. The manager told us they would be starting the process of applying to become the registered manager.
Medicines had not been safely managed. The manager had identified this and had put in place new systems to improve medicine management at the service.
Staff understood how safeguarding was part of their role and knew to report concerns. The new manager had identified a few safeguarding concerns which had not previously been followed up. They had reported them to the local authority and notified CQC as required. Systems were being put in place to ensure safeguarding concerns were acted upon appropriately going forward.
When people started using the service a welcome visit was completed and environmental risks assessed. Their care needs were assessed, and new care plans had been completed but these were still work in progress. The local fire service had agreed to undertake an annual visit to speak with people about their fire safety.
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.
Enough staff were employed to meet people's needs. The manager had identified that staff had not always been recruited safely. They had implemented new systems to improve staff recruitment and induction. Staff were receiving supervision and were being kept informed about changes being made.
The manager and the provider were improving staff training and had sourced a new online training provider and were looking for additional face to face training. Five staff had been enrolled on higher qualification training in health and social care to help them within their roles.
A system to record any incidents and accidents that occurred had been put into place, and then lessons learnt as a result which was shared with staff. People said they knew the provider and would let them know if they were not happy. They were confident the provider would take action.
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 11 May 2021 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This inspection was carried out due to the length of time the provider had been registered with CQC without receiving a formal rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.