Background to this inspection
Updated
5 March 2022
The inspection
We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.
Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.
Inspection team
The inspection team consisted of two inspectors.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 24 January 2022 and ended on 4 February 2022.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service and sought feedback from the local authority. 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 spoke with the person who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager, and care workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included the person’s care and medication record. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as video calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.
Updated
5 March 2022
About the service
Hope Homecare Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was providing care to one person; this person received personal care.
Not everyone who uses domiciliary care services receives 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 ensured staff were safely recruited or that all required training and competency checks were completed prior to working unsupervised. Processes relating to care plan updates were not robust.
We have made a recommendation about care records.
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.
The person spoke positively about the care provided. They were supported by staff who knew them well.
The person’s care plan was personalised including information that was important to them.
The service had a positive culture where staff described feeling well supported.
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 30 June 2021 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection of a newly registered service.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.
You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
The registered manager took action during the inspection to address our concerns. This included some amendments to the person’s care plan following our feedback. They also started a full review of staff’s Disclosure and Barring (DBS) checks and created an alert in the system to generate a reminder to renew staff’s DBS every three years.
Enforcement
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 discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.
We have identified breaches in relation to recruitment and staff competence at this inspection.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Follow up
We have requested 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 to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.