12 June 2018
During a routine inspection
This was the first inspection of this service since it was registered in August 2017. The inspection was announced. We gave the registered manager 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. We did this to ensure key staff were available for the inspection. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to three people – two people received regular help daily and a third person on an ad-hoc basis when they requested support. Since the inspection was completed, the capacity of the service to support people had reduced. This was because only the registered manager was available to cover care calls.
Why the service is rated Requires Improvement
There was a registered manager in post at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider. 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.
The provider did not have effective governance arrangements in place. They did not have measures in place to assess, monitor and make improvements to the service to ensure the service was safe and of good quality. The registered manager was unaware of the CQC guidance for providers on meeting the regulations and the key lines of enquiry, covering all the regulations.
The provider did not have suitable arrangements in place to ensure the directors, who were currently covering all care calls, were well trained and had the appropriate skills and competencies. There were no arrangements in place to ensure any new staff would receive induction training and Care Certificate training.
The service people received was safe. There were effective safeguarding systems in place and people were protected from harm. Safe recruitment procedures would ensure only suitable workers were employed. Any risks to people’s health and welfare were assessed and management plans put in place to reduce or eliminate that risk.
People received a caring service. The directors demonstrated their kindness and had caring attitudes. People were treated with kindness, respect and dignity. People were encouraged to make decision about their care and involved in planning the care and support they received.
The service was responsive and provided each person with a person-centred service. A plan of care was not in place for each person. There was continuity of care to people because the directors were covering all calls. People were encouraged to have a say about how they were looked after.
We found three breaches of the Health & Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.