Background to this inspection
Updated
14 January 2015
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 took place on 2 December 2014 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that someone would be in.
The inspection team consisted of one inspector, a specialist advisor in governance and an expert by experience in people receiving care with a domiciliary care agency. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
At the time of our inspection there were 29 people receiving care. We visited one person in their own home and spoke with 10 people who used the service on the telephone. We spoke with seven relatives, 10 members of staff and the manager. We also visited the provider’s office and spent some time looking at documents and records that related to people’s care and the management of the service. We looked at five people’s care and support plans.
Before our inspection we reviewed all the information we held about the service. The provider had not completed a provider information return (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and the improvements they plan to make. We contacted the local authority and Healthwatch who had no concerns about the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.
Updated
14 January 2015
This was an announced inspection carried out on 2 December 2014.
Polkadot Care Limited is based in the Crossgates area of Leeds. The agency provides personal care and support to people living in their own home, including people living with dementia or people who require end of life care. The service currently cares for 29 people.
At the last inspection in May 2014 we found the provider had breached two regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008. We found people did not experience care, treatment and support that met their needs and ensured their safety and welfare. We also found the provider did not always carry out relevant checks before new staff started work. We told the provider they needed to take action and we received a report on 2 July 2014 setting out the action they would take to meet the regulations. The provider told us it had met the regulations at the time of sending the report. At this inspection, we found some improvements had been made with regard to these breaches. However, we also found other areas of concern.
At the time of this inspection the service did not have a registered manager. The manager had submitted their application to register with the Care Quality Commission on 24 October 2014. 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.
There was no evidence staff knowledge and competency was systematically checked following completion of specific training courses. The opportunity was not always available for staff to attend regular supervision meetings to discuss their progress and personal development needs.
It was not clear from the care and support plans we looked at that people had received an appropriate and person specific mental capacity assessment which would ensure the rights of people who lacked the mental capacity to make decisions were respected.
The management team had failed to protect people from inappropriate or unsafe care and treatment by not effectively conducting quality monitoring of the service.
People told us they felt safe whilst staff were delivering care in their home. We found staff had a good knowledge of how to keep people safe from harm and there were enough staff to meet people’s needs. However, staff told us they had not received safeguarding training.
We found people were cared for, or supported by, sufficient numbers of experienced staff. Robust recruitment and selection procedures were in place and appropriate checks had been undertaken before staff began work.
People were involved in developing their plan of care and had their own copy. Staff recorded what they had done at each visit. People told us they were happy with the support they received from care workers. However, the service did not have arrangements in place to get feedback from people about the care they received.
Some people received assistance with taking their medication. All staff had completed training on how to use the medication system and all of the people we spoke with said they were satisfied with the way in which they were supported with this task.
People’s nutritional needs had been assessed and people told us they were satisfied with the support they received with their meals and drinks.
People’s physical health was monitored as required. This included the monitoring of people’s health conditions and symptoms so appropriate referrals to health professionals could be made.
People told us they had good relationships with staff members and staff knew how to respect their privacy and dignity.
The management team investigated and responded to people’s complaints, according to the provider’s complaints procedure. People we spoke with knew how to make a complaint.
We found the service was in breach of three of the regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.