Compassion First Care Ltd

Compassion First Care Ltd is a care at home service providing personal care to people within their own homes or flats. At the time of our inspection there were 15 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

Quality assurance tools had not always identified areas of improvement required. Improvements were ongoing to the quality assurance processes as the registered manager had purchased a new auditing system. The registered manager had not notified CQC as required of all safeguarding referrals they had made.

People were supported by consistent staff who knew them well. People told us staff attended their care call in a timely way and people did not feel rushed. People received their medicines safely. People were supported by trained staff who understood the different types of abuse. People were supported by staff who understood infection control best practice.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported not them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People were supported to eat and drink safely. Staff were trained and people felt safe with staff. People were involved in their care planning and risk assessments.

People told us staff were kind and caring and knew their likes and dislikes. Staff promoted people’ s independence and respected their privacy and dignity.

People knew how to complain and felt able to raise concerns. People knew who the manager was and gave positive feedback about them. People had access to health and social care professionals. People were supported to communicate in a way which supported their understanding.

Staff understood and were meeting people's preferences. Staff had access to regular staff meetings and supervisions.

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 05 August 2019) and there was a breach of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection the rating has improved to good.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service and information shared with us by the Local Authority. We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the well led section of this full report.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

People’s experience of using this service:

At this inspection we found one breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 in good governance.

Risks were not always assessed and planned for. For example, some people were identified as having a risk of choking. There was no evidence that staff were following health professional guidance in relation to choking risk, which meant there was a risk people weren’t appropriately supported.

Medication administration records were not fully completed. This meant there was a risk that people’s medication would not be effectively monitored.

People’s needs were assessed however, care plans were not sufficiently detailed. This meant that staff may not have the guidance to provide care for people in a way that was effective.

People told us they were happy with the way support they were supported to eat and drink. However, where people were on specialist diets but chose not to follow this diet, the guidance given to staff was not always followed.

The provider was working within the principles of the MCA, people and staff told us that they asked for consent before undertaking personal care tasks. MCA documentation was in place; however, it was not always been used effectively.

Governance systems required strengthening as systems in place did not identify areas where quality and safety were being compromised.

Systems were in place to protect people from potential abuse.

The provider safely recruited staff and people were protected from the risk of cross infection.

People told us they were treated with kindness and respect by the carers and were involved in making decisions about their care.

People told us they knew how to complain, and that staff knew their likes and dislikes. The service had systems in place to record people’s end of life wishes.

People told us that the registered manager was approachable.

Rating at last inspection: This was the services first inspection since registering with CQC.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on our inspection schedule.

Enforcement: Action we told the provider to take can be seen at the end of the full version of the report.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor this service with the information we receive.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk