Archived: Youus Ltd

People’s experience of using this service:

Auditing systems in place were not sufficiently robust or effective in maintaining oversight of the safety and quality of the service. We have found a breach of regulation in respect of this.

Risk assessments were in place where risks to people had been identified. However, we noted that in some instances the information recorded in these was limited and did not always include instructions for staff about how to mitigate associated risks. We have made a recommendation in relation to this.

Feedback from people and family members indicated that they were not all given an opportunity to provide feedback in respect of the care and support they received. We have made a recommendation to relation to this.

Policies and systems were in place to help ensure people were protected from the risk of abuse.

Appropriate medicines management systems were in place. Medicines were managed safely.

Recruitment checks were carried out to help ensure care staff assessed as safe to work with people using the service, were employed.

Staff followed infection prevention and control guidance to minimise risks related to the spread of infection.

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.

Care plans were up to date and reviewed on a regular basis. Care staff supported people in line with their wishes.

The provider monitored aspects of the quality of the services through audits and checks.

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 was good (11 July 2022).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Enforcement and recommendations

We have identified 1 breach of regulation in relation to governance and 2 recommendations in relation to risk assessments and quality assurance.

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.

Youus Ltd is a domiciliary care service. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes and flats in the community. The service supports people with a range of physical, sensory and learning disabilities as well as older people including those living with dementia. At the time of this inspection there were 18 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 and relatives of people receiving care and support from Youus Ltd, spoke positively about the care and support that they received. People’s privacy, dignity and independence was promoted.

Risks associated with people’s health, care and medical needs were identified and assessed. The registered manager and care staff understood people’s identified risks and how to minimise them to keep people safe.

However, some care plans lacked detailed information on how to minimise risk for people and to enable the delivery of safe, effective and responsive care.

People and relatives told us that they felt safe and confident with the care staff that supported them. Care staff knew the signs to look for if abuse was suspected and told us of the actions they would take to protect people from abuse.

Policies and processes were in place to support safe management and administration of medicines. Only those staff assessed as safe to work with vulnerable adults were employed by the service.

People were supported to maintain good health and had access to a variety of healthcare services where required. People were supported with eating a healthy and balanced diet where this was an assessed need. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Care staff received the required training and support to ensure safe and effective provision of care.

Care plans were person centred and gave information about each person, their needs and how they wished to be supported. People and relatives knew who to speak with if they had a complaint or concern to raise and were confident their concerns would be addressed.

Checks and audits in place enabled the service to monitor, learn and improve the quality of care and support people received. However, where we had identified some minor concerns with care plan records, this had not been identified through the providers internal audit processes. The registered manager was also unable to evidence that they reviewed and checked audits that had been completed by other staff members to ensure these were effectively completed.

We have made a recommendation about ensuring that comprehensive records are maintained to support the delivery of good quality care.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection. This service was registered with us on 31 August 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Follow up

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