Background to this inspection
Updated
6 February 2021
The inspection
This was a focussed inspection to check whether the provider had met legal requirements following the inspection in June 2020 where breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) 2014 Regulations were identified relating to person-centred care, safe care and treatment, safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment, staffing and good governance. Two key questions were inspected; ‘Is the Service Safe?’ and ‘Is the Service Well-Led?’
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and one 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.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission in line with the requirements of the provider's registration. A registered manager had not been in place since the last inspection. The service had a manager who was also the provider. This means they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided with the Care Quality Commission.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 12 January 2021 and ended on 14 January 2021.
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 authorities with whom the service works. On this occasion the provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We spoke with three people and 10 people’s relatives about their experience of the care provided to their family members. We spoke with 10 members of staff including the provider, manager and care workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included four people's care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and training. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at quality assurance records.
Updated
6 February 2021
About the service
We Care Solutions Chorlton is a domiciliary care provider based in Manchester and provides personal care to adults and older people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service supported 44
people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found.
At the last inspection in June 2020 we found there were breaches of five regulations. At this inspection we found the registered person had taken positive steps and implemented systems to improve the quality and
safety of the service provided.
People received care and support that was personalised. A new care planning framework had been introduced. The provider has started the process of re-assessing people’s care planning documentation in order to ensure this fully captured people’s needs. We found steady progress has already been made with the service due to complete this process by the end of February 2021.
There were enough care staff to meet people's needs. Maintaining safe staffing levels had been a challenge at our previous inspection. However, the service has reduced in size and implemented a robust call monitoring system that supported call scheduling.
Medicines were administered in a safe manner. Systems were in place, which monitored how the service operated and ensured staff delivered appropriate care and treatment.
Since our last inspection we found the provider has completed a full-service review of their training resources provided to staff. Feedback from staff during the inspection indicated the training on offer was much improved.
The provider brought in an external consultant to support the service with the necessary improvements. The provider and management team understood that the systems and processes that were now in place were relatively new and further time was needed to ensure that they were fully embedded, and sustained. We will check that improvements made have been sustained at our next planned comprehensive inspection.
People benefited from an improved quality assurance system being in place. This meant that the registered person's oversight of all the service's functions, including recruitment, training, medicines management and
care planning was now more robust.
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 inadequate (08 September 2020). At this inspection we found the registered person had made improvements and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations in relation to the service provided to the seven people who currently use the service.
This service has been in Special Measures since 8 September 2020. During this inspection the registered person demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for We Care Solutions Chorlton on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating of inadequate. As part of this inspection we also assessed whether the provider had taken the actions necessary to meet the regulation breaches identified
at the last inspection. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we undertook a focused inspection to only review the key questions of Safe and Well-led. Our report is only based on the findings in those areas reviewed at this inspection. The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for the Effective, Caring and Responsive key questions were not looked at on this occasion. Ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement. 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.