Four Oaks Healthcare Ltd

Updated 26 May 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

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors, an assistant 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. We also had support from a nurse specialist.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

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 short notice of the inspection. We were mindful of the impact and added pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic on the service. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances and requirements arising as a result of the COVID -19 pandemic.

What we did before 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 their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with eight people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with nine members of staff including the registered manager, care manager, care-co-ordinator and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits and policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 26 May 2021

About the service

Four Oaks Healthcare Ltd is a community based care provider that provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of inspection 60 people were receiving a service and all were in receipt of the regulated activity of personal care.

CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they did, we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Staff had received training in safeguarding and knew how to keep people safe. The registered manager understood their legal requirements within the law to notify us of all safeguarding incidents. However, the provider’s use of the electronic system had failed to ensure statutory notifications had been sent to CQC as required by law in a timely manner.

Staff had been recruited safely and were trained and supported to provide the best possible care for people. Medication was administered safely.

People's support needs were assessed regularly and planned to ensure they received the support they needed. Some care plans were very detailed whilst others required further information to guide staff. The provider carried out regular audits of the service to ensure people received good quality care and to drive forward improvements.

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 (published December 2019).

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check on specific concerns we received about the support people experienced. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. 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 requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this 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.