Background to this inspection
Updated
2 December 2021
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
This inspection was conducted by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing. 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
This inspection was unannounced. Inspection activity started on 22 September 2021 and ended on 5 November 2021. We visited the office location on 23 and 29 September 2021.
What we did before the inspection
The provider was asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. However, this focused inspection took place before the given timescale by which the provider was required to return the information to us. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
During the inspection we spoke with a number of staff, including a payroll officer, the area manager, call monitoring manager, the provider’s care and quality consultant, and the registered manager. We looked at a range of records, including four staff recruitment files, and a variety of records relating to medicines support and the management of the service.
After the inspection
We spoke with two care staff, nine people who used the service and three family members of other people who used the service. We spoke with a professional from a local authority who had worked with the service recently. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.
Updated
2 December 2021
About the service
Supreme Care Services is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the agency was supporting 92 people. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission 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
Most people spoke positively about the service, the staff and told us they felt safe. However, the provider had not always kept up to date and accurate records regarding people’s care and the management of the service.
We received mixed feedback from people about whether staff arrived on time. The provider monitored care visits to reduce the risk of people experiencing late or missed care visits.
There were arrangements in place to support people to take their medicines safely. There were systems and processes in place to protect people from the risk of harm. There were staff recruitment processes in place.
There were procedures in place for preventing and controlling the spread of infection.
There were various quality monitoring systems in place. The service worked with statutory agencies to provide joined-up care to people.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 1 May 2019).
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to staff recruitment and deployment, protecting people from avoidable harm and the management of the service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection. We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the well-led section of this full report. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Supreme Care Services Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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 a breach in relation to the governance of the service. 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 authorities to monitor progress to improvement.