Background to this inspection
Updated
23 September 2023
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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and an Expert by Experience. 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.
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 31 July 2023 and ended on 10 August 2023. We visited the location’s office on 31 July 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed the information we held about the service. We used this information to plan our inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
During the inspection
We spoke with 4 people who used the service and 6 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the branch manager and operations manager and received feedback from 7 care staff and 3 health professionals who have had contact with the service.
We reviewed a range of records. This included 9 people’s care records, 4 staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of records relating to the management of the service.
Updated
23 September 2023
About the service
J.C.Michael Groups Ltd Basildon is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living 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 our inspection there were 86 people receiving personal care support.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The provider’s processes for reviewing the quality and safety of the service were not always effective in identifying concerns. The provider’s safeguarding systems were not robust, and this meant it was not always clear what actions had been taken to address concerns. Statutory notifications had not always been submitted appropriately.
The provider had systems in place to recruit staff safely; however, not all checks were fully documented. Risks to people’s safety were assessed; however, some information lacked detail. Feedback from people and their relatives highlighted concerns with the provider’s management of medicines and oversight of people’s care visits.
The provider sought feedback from people and relatives about the care provided; however, we received some mixed feedback about how well the provider communicated and shared information.
Despite these concerns, people and their relatives spoke positively about the kindness of the care staff and management team. 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. The provider worked in partnership with other health and social care professionals in order to meet people’s changing support needs.
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 24 September 2019).
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to the management of safeguarding concerns and oversight at the service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. 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 J.C.Michael Groups Ltd Basildon on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement and Recommendations
We have identified breaches in relation to safeguarding and governance at this inspection. We have also made a recommendation about the provider’s recruitment processes.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Follow up
We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.