The Care Quality Commission
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Archived: Bloomsbury Home Care - Worcestershire

Overall: Requires improvement read more about inspection ratings

60 Barbourne Road, Worcester, WR1 1JA (01905) 726943

Provided and run by:
Bloomsbury Home Care Limited

All Inspections

13 March 2019

During a routine inspection

About the service: Bloomsbury Worcestershire is a domiciliary care agency providing care for people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 39 people using the service. There was not a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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. However, the provider had recruited a new

manager who would be registering with us.

Not everyone using [Bloomsbury Worcestershire] receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service:

• Staff recruitment records had been checked since our first day of inspection, so the provider could assure themselves people's safety was maintained because all staff were suitable to work with people in their homes.

• People were not always supported by staff who were appropriately trained.

• Staff were now provided with regular supervision to do their job effectively.

• The provider lacked robust and effective systems and processes to ensure the quality and safety of service.

• People and relatives told us staff were not always caring and didn’t always respect their right to confidentiality.

• People's needs were assessed before they started receiving care and they told us their needs were met.

• 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.

• People were involved in the care planning process, but reviews were not always carried out regularly.

• People's independence was encouraged and maintained.

• People and relatives knew how to raise concerns.

Rating at last inspection: The provider was called Bloomsbury West Midlands and was rated Good on 15 October 2015. The provider moved offices to Worcester and changed their name to Bloomsbury Worcester.

Why we inspected: This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received. We had received a number of complaints from people using the service and whistle-blowers.

This is the first time this service has been rated Requires Improvement.

Enforcement:

At our first day inspection on the 12 March 2019 we identified concerns regarding staffing, staff recruitment and the provider's quality assurances systems. When we returned to the site on the 20 June 2019 we found the necessary improvements had been made, However, we found the work to improve the service was still ongoing and further time was required to evidence the improvements could be sustained in the longer term which we have reflected in the ratings.

Follow up:

We will work with the provider following this report being published to understand and monitor how they will make changes to ensure the service improves their rating to at least Good.

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

15 October 2015

During a routine inspection

The inspection took place on 15 October 2015 and was announced. This was the first time we have inspected this service

The service provided domiciliary care to nine people in their own homes. There had not been a registered manager in place since April 2015 however we saw that a new manager was currently in the process of registering with the Commission. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

People told us that they felt the service kept them safe. Staff were aware of how to protect people from the risk of harm and how to raise these concerns when necessary. The provider managed risks to people in order to protect them from harm. The regional manager had plans to review people's risk assessments in the near future. After our inspection we were notified that the provider had produced a series of guidance for staff about how to manage the risks associated with people’s specific conditions.

There were enough staff to keep people safe and to meet their needs. People confirmed that they were always supported by the number of staff identified as necessary in their care plans. The provider had established a resource of bank staff who were employed to provide occasional cover when regular staff are unavailable] who they could call upon to support people at short notice. Staff told us that they had undergone robust checks to ensure they could support people safely but this was not always evidenced by the provider.

People who required assistance to take their medication said they were happy with how they were supported. Staff were able to explain how they supported people to take their medication in line with their care plans.

Staff had the skills and knowledge they needed to meet people’s care needs. Staff received regular observations of their practice and supervisions to ensure they remained competent to support people in line with their care plans and best practice.

People had been asked how they wanted to be supported and when necessary they had been supported by others who were close to them in order to help express their views. We saw that the provider had ensured people were supported in line with these wishes.

The provider had conducted assessments of people’s capacity to make every day decisions.

People told us that staff supported them to eat and drink enough to stay well. Staff knew what people liked to eat. People had access to other health care professionals when necessary to maintain their health.

All the people we spoke with said that staff were caring and were happy to be supported by the service. People had developed positive relationships with the staff who supported them and spoke about them with affection. The service promoted people’s privacy and dignity.

People told us the service would respond appropriately if their needs and views changed. We saw that records were updated to reflect their views. Records contained details of people’s life histories and who they wanted to maintain relationships with so that staff could provide the support people wished.

The provider had systems in place to support people to express their views about the service and People were aware of the provider’s complaints process. People felt their concerns were sorted out quickly without the need to resort to the formal process.

People we spoke with said they were pleased with how the service was managed and felt involved in directing how their care was developed.

A new regional manager had recently joined the service and was currently in the process of registering with the Commission. They understood the responsibilities of their role. The regional manager had clear views of the actions they wanted to take to improve the service and staff we spoke with were confident in their abilities to lead the service.

The provider had processes for monitoring and improving the quality of the care people received which included observational audits of how staff provided care to people in their own homes. When necessary they had taken action in order to improve the quality of the care provided by specific members of staff.