Background to this inspection
Updated
15 October 2020
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by two inspectors.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection, and provided an explanation as to the inspection process.
Inspection activity started on 18 September 2020 and ended on 05 October 2020. We visited the office location on 02 October 2020.
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 authority who work with the service. 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 requested the provider send information to us prior to our site visit. This included information as to the governance of the service, and included evidence to support medicine management, the monitoring and quality of the service, minutes of meetings, key policies and procedures, and records to evidence the system of recruitment, induction and training for staff. We reviewed this information prior to our site visit.
We spoke with three people who used the service and two family members who spoke on people's behalf, by telephone on 24 and 25 September 2020.
We spoke with five staff members by telephone on 24 and 25 September 2020.
During our site visit we reviewed a range of records. This included three people's risk assessments and medicine records, two staff recruitment and training records. We looked at documents related to the management of the service, including systems and used to monitor the quality of the service provided.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. The provider following our site visit forwarded to CQC their business continuity plan, the Covid-19 response plan and the minutes of staff meetings.
Updated
15 October 2020
About the service
Shalom Home Care Limited is a domiciliary care service. The service provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 11 people using the service.
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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
An electronic monitoring system was in place to record people’s care and support. However, additional training for staff, consistency of use and improved monitoring was required to ensure the system was used effectively to monitor the quality of the service provided.
People were not always confident in the management of the service, they spoke of difficulties in contacting office-based staff, and gaining a quick response to their query. Some people spoke of the minimal contact they had with the registered manager, which had had a negative impact on their views as to the service they received. Surveys were used to gather people’s views about the service, however not everyone could remember being involved.
We found improvements had been made to the recording and planning of staff supervision and training, and the recording and management of people’s medication. The registered manager had undertaken training to enable them to deliver training to staff, and had attended forums to share information and ideas.
Staff had regular meetings and supervision, which provided opportunities for them to share their views and receive support and guidance. Staff spoke positively of the support they received, which included the sharing of information during the Covid-19 pandemic. A covid-19 contingency plan was in place, and staff had received training on Covid-19, infection control and prevention and the correct use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Staff had a good understanding of people’s needs and were aware of their responsibilities in keeping people safe, which included reporting any concerns they had with regards to people’s health and welfare.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published, 16 May 2019).
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 30 April and 01 May 2019. Two breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve medicine management and good governance.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contained the requirements.
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 Shalom Home Care Limited 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.