Archived: ProCare Solutions

Updated 15 July 2017

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 visit took place on the 8 June 2017 and was announced. We announced the inspection on the day of the inspection. This was so the provider could provide us with contact details of people who used the service. The inspection visit was carried out by one inspector. We checked the information we held about the service and the provider. This included notifications the provider had sent to us about significant events at the service and information of concern we had received from the local authority, whistle blowers and members of the public. Prior to the inspection we had been made aware that there were concerns of potential irregularities.We used this to formulate our inspection plan.

On this occasion we did not ask the provider to send us 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. However we offered the provider the opportunity to share information they felt relevant with us.

We used a range of different methods to help us understand people’s experiences. We visited four people in their homes and spoke with four relatives or friends of these people. We looked at care records for four people to see if their records were accurate and up to date.

Updated 15 July 2017

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 7 March 2017 and found we found people did not always receive their agreed levels of support and staff felt under pressure to deliver this. We could not be assured the provider acted in an open and transparent way with us during the inspection. We could not be assured staff received the necessary training to support people. Following the inspection we held a meeting with the provider and told them they must send us an action plan to tell us what action they were taking to make the necessary improvements.

We undertook this focused inspection on 8 June 2017 due to receiving information of concern and to check if the provider had taken any action following our last inspection to drive improvement. This report only covers our findings in relation to the safety and welfare of people. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for ProCare Solutions on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

This service provided care in people’s homes in the South Staffordshire area to older people. At the time of the inspection 12 people were being supported by the service.

There was a registered manager in place. 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 we visited did not receive their agreed levels of support and calls were missed by the provider. When calls had been missed we had not received notification of these incidents in line with our requirements. We could not be sure the provider was open and transparent with us as we received differing information about the people they supported and the hours they delivered, potentially placing people who used the service at risk.

When individual risks had been identified for people we could not be assured staff had the training or information to keep them safe. Risks assessments and care plans were not always in place as required. When people needed support with medicines we could not be sure people had received these as required as tablets were found in previous supplies of blister packs.

The overall rating for this service is 'Inadequate' and the service is therefore in 'special measures'. Services in special measures will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider's registration of the service, it will be inspected again within six months. The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this timeframe.

If not enough improvement is made within this timeframe so that there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve. This service will continue to be kept under review and, if needed, could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement so there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action to prevent the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration.

For adult social care services the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures

We found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Full information about CQC's regulatory response to any concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.