Archived: Jark Healthcare - Kings Lynn

Updated 15 June 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 5 May 2016 and was announced. It was completed by one inspector. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service. We also gathered additional information on 11 May 2016, after the office visit.

Before we visited the service we reviewed the information we held about it. The information included notifications about events taking place within the service and which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We also received information from the local authority's quality assurance team about their views regarding the quality and safety of the service.

In March 2016, we also asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. They did not return a PIR and we took this into account when we made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection we spoke with the Nominated Individual who represents the registered provider. We also spoke with the manager and four other members of staff, including the training officer. We spoke with two people who used the service and relatives of two others where people found it difficult to communicate using the telephone.

We reviewed records associated with the care of four people using the service. We also looked at the training programme for staff and recruitment records for two staff recently appointed. We reviewed other records available in connection with the quality and safety of the service.

Updated 15 June 2016

The inspection took place on 5 May 2016 and was announced.

Jark Healthcare - King's Lynn operates from an office in the centre of the town and provides care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of this inspection, there were 12 people receiving services.

There was no registered manager in post in day-to-day charge of the service as required by the provider's registration conditions. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. Although a manager remained registered on our database it was clear from discussions at the agency that the person had not fulfilled that role since April 2015. A new manager had been appointed and started work at the agency in February 2016 but was not yet registered.

People experienced a service that promoted their safety. They received assistance from sufficient numbers of staff to meet their needs and to keep them safe. There were robust recruitment processes in operation, which contributed to protecting people from the employment of staff who were unsuitable to work in care. Staff were aware of their obligations to report any concerns that people may be being abused. Risks to people were assessed and there was guidance for staff about how they should minimise these risks while they were delivering care.

Staff were trained to administer medicines safely but there were few people using the service for whom they needed to assume this responsibility. The way that the competence of staff to administer medicines safely was assessed needed improvement and the manager had plans to address this.

The service was not wholly effective. Some training identified as required as part of people's care packages had not been provided and some guidance from a health professional had not been properly incorporated into a plan of care. This had not had an adverse effect on anyone at the time of the inspection but presented a potential risk that people's complex health needs may not be fully met by competent staff.

People received support from staff who were polite, respectful and kind. Staff were aware of the importance of promoting people's privacy, dignity and their independence as far as practicable. Staff were aware of people's individual needs and preferences for the way they wanted their care to be delivered. Staff also understood the importance of seeking people's permission before delivering personal care.

People and their relatives were confident that, if they had any concerns or complaints, the management team would take these seriously and respond to them.

Almost all of the staff had joined the service recently so had only worked with the current manager who they felt was supportive. They were well-motivated and enthusiastic about their work. However, frequent changes in management and leadership over the last year compromised the ability of the service to properly and robustly monitor the quality of the service people received, taking into account people's views.

The provider had failed to comply with the rules about events they needed to tell us about by law and had failed to provide us with required information about the service. Inconsistent arrangements for leading the service during 2015 may have contributed to these failings. We have told the provider that they must improve in this area.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.