Background to this inspection
Updated
15 January 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.
Inspection team
The on-site inspection was carried out by three inspectors; an assistant inspector and inspector made telephone calls to care workers. An Expert by Experience made telephone calls to people who used the service. 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
This service 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
We gave 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This supported the provider and the inspection team to manage any potential risks associated with Covid-19. It was also to ensure the registered manager would be in.
Inspection activity started on 20 November 2020 and ended on 22 November 2020. We visited the office location on 20 and 22 November.
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 and professionals who work with the service. We reviewed notifications and safeguarding concerns we had received from 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.
We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with the registered manager, the quality and compliance consultant and the provider.
We reviewed 15 service user records including care plans, daily notes and medication administration records. We looked at six staff records in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We also reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at a variety of information submitted by the provider, including training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with 16 people who used the service and nine care staff, as well as a local authority social worker.
Updated
15 January 2021
About the service
Supreme Care Services is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care to people living in their own home.
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, the agency was providing the regulated activity of personal care to 51 people. People receiving the care were either living with dementia or elderly and frail.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We have made a recommendation that the provider has a system by which they can be assured people’s care is delivered in accordance with their care plans.
We have made a recommendation that the provider ensures their audits identify shortfalls identified during inspection.
The provider did not have an effective system in place to monitor care worker call times. Some people who used the service told us they did not receive a rota to let them know which care worker would visit them, or for how long and they were not always informed of changes to the care provided.
Some audits were inconsistent and did not always address issues identified by us. Medicines administration was not always in accordance with the provider’s ‘recording the administration of medication’ policy.
These issues had not impacted on people but there were possible risks as a result of the absence of effective oversight and records.
People and their relatives told us they felt safe with the care provided and said care workers took increased infection prevention and control measures to keep them safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Care workers described how they would respond to a service user who might deteriorate during their care. They said the office staff and the registered manager were accessible and always responded to their requests for support and guidance.
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 good (published 25 September 2018)
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to missed or late calls; poor infection prevention control practice and inaccurate record keeping. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
The overall rating for the service remains unchanged. This is based on the findings at this inspection. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the Safe and Well-led sections of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Supreme Care Services Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Services Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.