Background to this inspection
Updated
22 July 2021
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.
This was a focused inspection to check on breaches of legal requirements found at the last comprehensive inspection.
Inspection team
The inspection team on site consisted of one inspector. After the inspection, an expert by experience made telephone calls to people and relatives. 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
Bestvalue Home Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
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
This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection visit as we needed to be sure that they would be available. Inspection site visit activity took place on 14 May 2021. We visited the office location to see the manager and office staff; and to review care and management records.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We reviewed five people’s care plans, five staff files and records relating to the management of the service. We also spoke with the registered manager and two assistant managers.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at care documentation and quality assurance records. We spoke with five people and eleven relatives to gain their views about the service.
Updated
22 July 2021
About the service:
Bestvalue Home Care Services UK Limited is registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes in the community. 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 our inspection, approximately 51 people were receiving personal care from the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
During this inspection, we found the service failed to make sufficient improvements to address the concerns identified at the last inspection and comply with our regulations. Risks to people’s health and safety were not effectively assessed. There was unclear information in relation to the support people required with their medicines. Assessments completed were not detailed enough to fully highlight people’s care needs. People’s care records were not person centred and did not reflect the appropriate support in accordance to people’s needs. The current systems in place were not effective enough to assess and monitor and the quality and safety of the services being provided to people.
The majority of people spoke positively about the service. They said they felt safe and their needs were being met. There were appropriate numbers of staff deployed to meet people's needs. Staff followed appropriate infection control practices. The provider had systems in place to record and respond to accidents and incidents. Any lessons learnt were used as opportunities to improve the quality of service.
Staff had the knowledge and experience to support people's needs. They were supported through induction, training and supervision to ensure they performed their roles effectively. People were supported with their meals and had access to healthcare services when needed. 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.
There were procedures in place to investigate and respond to concerns received.
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 15 January 2020) 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 safe care and treatment, person centred care and good governance.
At this inspection enough improvement had not been made and the provider was still in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
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, Effective Responsive and Well-led which contain those 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 remains requires improvement. 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 Fairmount 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.