We carried out a review of the data available to us about Vine Social Care on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Vine Social Care, you can give feedback on this service.
Vine Social Care is a home care agency supporting people with personal care in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 50 people with personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and relatives told us they were happy with the quality of care, telling us they received consistent care, at agreed times with staff they were familiar with.
People told us the registered manager was approachable and professional. Staff told us that they were motivated in their role and enjoyed working for the company.
The provider had systems in place to investigate and reflect upon incidents. Outcomes from investigations were shared with staff to help ensure the learning was applied in their everyday working practice.
Risks to people in relation to their health and medical conditions were assessed and measures were put in place to reduce the risk of harm to people.
The provider had effective systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of care. They had utilised computer-based systems to develop a pro-active approach by monitoring care in ‘real time’.
There were safe systems in place to ensure the continuity of care outside of office hours and in the event of an emergency.
The registered manager had a good understanding of the day to day culture of the service and of people’s needs.
There were enough staff in place to meet people’s needs. The provider had made improvements to their recruitment processes to ensure staff had appropriate checks into their background and character.
People’s care plans detailed the support they required around their medicines and personal care. Care plans were easy to follow, accessible for staff and identified people’s specific preferences around their care.
There were policies and procedures in place to protect people from the risk of suffering abuse or coming to avoidable harm.
Staff had received training in infection control, including additional measures required in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The provider engaged with people so they could have a meaningful input into their care plans.
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 25 September 2019).
Why we inspected
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had made improvements in the areas identified as requires improvement at our last inspection. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions Safe and Well-Led.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion 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.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Vine Social Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.
Vine Social Care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care for 48 people at the time of inspection in their own homes.
People's experience of using the service and what we found
Management processes were in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service. However, plans were not effective to address the shortfalls the provider identified in relation to training needs. There was a positive and open culture within the service. However, staff told us they felt supported and could go to the registered manager if they needed to talk as there was an open-door policy.
The provider had not always acted on or learn from incidents, such as an incident highlighting a training need. Systems and processes were in place to manage medicines safely and protect people from the risk of abuse. Infection control measures were in place to minimise the risk of infection.
We recommended the actions from incidents were logged and reviewed in a more robust way to avoid actions being missed in the future. The registered manager told us they would do this.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People's care and support met their needs and reflected their preferences.
Care workers had developed relationships with people they supported. Staff respected people's dignity and privacy and promoted their independence.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 4 August 2018) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found some improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations. However, we did find that there were still areas for improvement and therefore the service remains rated requires improvement.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
Vine Social Care is a domiciliary care agency; it provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older and younger adults who may be living with a physical disability, a mental health condition, a learning disability or people living with dementia. At the time of the inspection, 29 people were using the service.
We identified breaches of two Regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, and one breach of Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009. You can see what action we have taken at the back of the full version of the report.
The provider had a recruitment process to make sure the staff they employed were suitable to work in a care setting. However these were not always consistent and some staff had commenced employment without the required checks being completed.
Risks to people were assessed and action was taken to minimise any avoidable harm to people. Staff were trained to know the signs of abuse and how to report these in line with policy and procedures. However, the provider had not consistently reported these concerns to the relevant safeguarding teams. The provider had failed to notify the CQC and relevant agencies of safeguarding concerns which could have resulted in people not being kept safe.
Medicines were managed safely. Staff who administered medicines were appropriately trained, however staff did not receive medicines management competency checks so the provider could not be assured that staff were competent. There were unaccounted for gaps in people’s medicine administration records (MARS) charts which had not been identified in the provider’s audits There was no evidence of anyone coming to harm with regards to the management of their prescribed medicines.
The service had a registered manager. 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 guidance in place to protect people from risks to their safety and welfare, this included the risks of avoidable harm and abuse. Staffing levels were sufficient to support people safely and where there were any short falls these were covered internally or with agency staff.
Staff were aware of the importance of infection prevention and control and their responsibility to ensure that infection risks were minimised. Staff had access to appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).
Staff raised concerns with regard to safety incidents, concerns and near misses, and reported them accordingly. The registered manager analysed incidents and accidents to identify trends and implement measures to prevent a further occurrence.
People's needs had been assessed and they had a written care plan to meet their identified needs.
People were supported by staff who had the required skills and training to meet their needs. Where required, staff completed additional training to meet individual's needs. People were supported to have a balanced diet that promoted healthy eating.
The registered manager involved a range of external health and social care professionals in the care of people, such as: community nurses, physiotherapists and GPs to enable them to be supported to live healthier lives.
The registered manager and staff understood their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. The service did not currently support any individuals who required assessments under the MCA.
People experienced consistency of care from staff who were kind and compassionate. People told us the staff were very caring and kind. People told us they were involved in making decisions about their care and that their wishes were respected. Staff ensured people's privacy and dignity was upheld at all times.
The service was responsive and involved people in developing their care plans which were detailed and personalised to ensure their individual preferences were known. People's care plans had information about their care needs, as well as their wishes regarding independence and any risks identified and how to minimise these. If a person's needs changed, their care plans were updated immediately.
Arrangements were in place to obtain the views of people and their relatives and a complaints procedure was available for people and their relatives to use if they had the need.
The registered manager provided support to staff. The safety and quality of the support people received were monitored. However, the quality assurance systems used had failed to identify some shortfalls in the service.