Background to this inspection
Updated
26 November 2022
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
This inspection was carried out by one 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 not a registered manager in post. The nominated individual managed the service and supported the inspection while they recruited a manager who would apply to be the registered manager with CQC.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was announced.
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.
What we did before the 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. We reviewed the provider’s action plan from the last inspection; reviewed the intelligence we held about the provider and sought feedback from the commissioners and health care professionals to help direct our inspection plan. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with one person who received support from the service and nine people’s relatives about their experience of the care provided. During and after the inspection we spoke with the nominated individual, four senior staff members and four care staff. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.
We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and medication records. We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including staff training, rotas and some of the provider’s policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection we continued to review the providers quality assurance records and seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.
Updated
26 November 2022
About the service
Option Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 41 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
Comprehensive and detailed care records were now in place which provided staff with the information they needed to support people. People’s risks had been assessed and their care plans described the actions staff should take to help mitigate people’s risks.
People were safeguarded from the risk of harm and abuse. All incidents and concerns were recorded, reported and actioned to help reduce the risk of reoccurrence. The provider was aware of their responsibility to notify CQC of significant events and concerns.
Enough staff were available to support people. People and their relatives confirmed that staff were kind and reliable. They felt the provider and managers were responsive to any concerns that they had raised.
Safe recruitment practices were being used when recruiting staff from the UK and abroad. However, we have made a recommendation about recruiting staff from abroad and any associated risks. Staff felt supported and trained to carry out their role.
People’s medicines were managed effectively by staff who had been trained in the management and administration of people’s medicines. Protocols relating to ‘as required’ medicines were being reveiwed and implemented.
People and their relatives were assured that safe infection controls measures were taken by staff such as wearing PPE.
Improvements had been made to the provider’s governance and quality assurance systems. This had helped them identify shortfalls and take any actions needed to drive improvement.
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 12 November 2021).
The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced focused inspection of this service on 12 October 2021. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve their governance systems.
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 of Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.
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 Requires Improvement to Good. 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 Option Care Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.