Aquaflo Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes in Ilford and Newham. The service provides care and support to people with health and social care needs. At the time of our inspection 65 people were using the service. This inspection took place on 11 October 2017.We had previously inspected this service on 17 January 2017 and identified a number of areas where improvements were needed, to ensure that people were receiving care that was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
We found the service to be in breach of five regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We undertook this inspection to check if the service had made the required improvements from our inspection in January 2017. We found that although the provider had made some progress, not all the required improvements had been made.
There was a registered manager at the service who told us that they were also registered to manage another location for the same provider. 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.
Staff supported people at home with their care needs and the service had assessed some risks. However, not all risks associated with people’s health care tasks had been assessed to ensure people were safe at all times when staff carried out personal care.
Staff were not always deployed in a way for people to receive care from consistent, punctual staff. People told us that they got along with staff that knew them well.
Staff received up to date training, supervision and yearly appraisals of their work and performance. Staff had a basic understanding of the application of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
We found recruitment checks were in place to ensure new staff were suitable to work at the service. Staff had positive views about the leadership and culture of the service.
People and their relatives told us they felt safe using the service. Staff knew how to report safeguarding concerns. The provider carried out checks to ensure that staff employed were of good character. Medicines were administered safely by trained and competent staff.
Detailed support plans were in place and records were updated following reviews or changes in people's needs. People were supported by staff if needed, to access support from healthcare professionals where required.
People who used the service and their relatives told us the staff they knew were caring. Staff respected people's privacy and dignity and encouraged them to maintain their independence.
People and their relatives knew how to make a complaint. These were not always satisfactorily handled by the management team. We have made a recommendation about this.
Staff felt supported by management and staff team meetings were used for staff to speak openly and make suggestions that could lead to improvements.
The service had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided through seeking people's feedback and carrying out spot checks. However, improvements were needed to identify the issues with an overview of where improvements were required in order to make progress.
We found two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.