Background to this inspection
Updated
18 September 2019
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
The inspection was carried out by two inspectors.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses.
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 we needed to be sure that the provider who is also the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 08 August 2019 and ended on 13 August 2019. We visited the office location on both days.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about the service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection,
During the inspection
We spoke with the registered manager who is also the registered provider, and an operation manager. We attempted to contact 25 people who used the service, and 10 staff. We spoke with 18 people who used the service and eight staff.
We looked at eight people’s care records to see how their care and treatment was planned and delivered. Other records looked at included four recruitment files to check suitable staff were recruited and received appropriate training. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service along with a selection of the provider’s policies and procedures.
Updated
18 September 2019
About the service
Tabitha Home Care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care or support to 152 people living in their own home.
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 and daily living activities that people may require support with.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The service had experienced a period of change since the last inspection. A new management team was now in place, including a new registered manager who was also the provider. Progress had been made to address the concerns we highlighted at the last inspection.
People told us they felt comfortable with the staff who supported. The provider recruited and retained a more consistent staff team so that people could develop relationships with staff that know them well. The provider was following safe recruitment procedures and people were now receiving support from the same care staff.
Staff monitored people’s health needs and worked well with healthcare professionals to ensure people received the right support.
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 his practice.
Staff treated people with care and respect and understood how to promote people’s dignity and independence. People had mixed views about their call times, most people spoken with told us their calls where within the time framed agreed. Some people told us they arranged times with staff to come early or later and some people told us that their calls were late or early.
Where staff supported people with their medication, records were not always signed by staff to confirm people had taken their medication. The providers monitoring systems had not identified that there were omissions in medication records. All people spoken with who had support with their medication told us that no medication had been missed.
Support plans had been reviewed and updated and were now a more accurate reflection of people’s wishes and preferences.
Recently new systems for monitoring the service had been introduced since the last inspection. The provider had also registered as the registered manager. This meant that some concerns were being picked up more promptly and action taken. However, more time was needed to ensure these systems were fully embedded, so improvements could be sustained.
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 requires improvement with a breach of Regulation 17 good governance (published 23 August 2018). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection, we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
This inspection was a planned inspection.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.