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Archived: Lancashire Rose Care Service Ltd

Overall: Requires improvement read more about inspection ratings

Lancashire Deaf Service, 30 Cannon Street, Preston, PR1 3NS (01772) 250117

Provided and run by:
Lancashire Rose Care Service Limited

Important: This service was previously registered at a different address - see old profile

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 6 November 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection site visit took place on 28 September 2018 and was announced.

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is domiciliary care service and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

We visited the office location on 28 September 2018 to see the registered manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector and a British sign language interpreter.

Before our inspection visit, we reviewed the information we held on the service. This included notifications we had received from the provider about incidents that affect the health, safety and welfare of people who used the service. We also reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR) we received prior to our inspection. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. This provided us with information and numerical data about the operation of the service.

Due to people’s complex needs were unable to speak to people directly. We spoke to one care staff member, an administration officer, and a team leader. We spoke with the interim manager and the nominated individual who is also the director.

We looked at care records of three people who used the service, training and three recruitment records of staff members and records relating to the management of the service. We also contacted health and social care professionals and the safeguarding department at the local authority for their views about the service.

Overall inspection

Requires improvement

Updated 6 November 2018

The inspection visit took place on 28 September 2018 and was announced.

This inspection was the first inspection since the service was registered by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at this location. The service was previously registered at another location.

Lancashire Rose Care Service Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses, flats in the community and specialist housing. It provides a service to older adults, younger disabled adults, and children. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for people supported in their own homes; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support. At the time of the visit there were four people who used the service. Not all people who use Lancashire Rose Care Service Ltd received personal care support.

CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided.

During this inspection we found shortfalls in the systems and arrangements for staff training, and supervisions, there was a lack of robust governance, quality assurance processes and a failure to undertake robust recruitment checks. In addition, there was a failure to inform CQC of the change in management arrangements at the service. These were breaches of Regulation 17, Regulation 18 and, Regulation 19 of the Health and Social Care Act, 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 and Regulation 15 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009. You can see what action we told the registered provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

The service had a registered manager. However, during our inspection visit we were informed that the registered manager had left the service three weeks before the inspection. The provider was in the process of finding a replacement manager. An interim manager had been appointed to oversee the running of the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

There were policies and procedures on how the service protected people against bullying, harassment, avoidable harm and abuse. Care staff had received training in safeguarding adults and knew how to report concerns. There were risk assessments which had been undertaken. Plans to minimise or remove risks had been recorded in line with the organisation’s policy. These covered specific risks around people’s care and specific activities they undertook in a person-centred manner.

There was a medicines policy in place and staff had been trained to safely support people with their medicines. However, medicines records had not been audited consistently. We made a recommendation about medicines management.

The recruitment processes were not robust to ensure people were protected against unsuitable staff. Records we saw and conversations with staff, showed the service had adequate care staff to ensure that people's needs were sufficiently met. In majority of the cases, staff had visited people at agreed times.

Staff had received training however, they had not received regular supervision in line with the organisation’s policy. Spot checks were not undertaken to observe and check staff’s competence

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. However, knowledge and application of the mental capacity principles required further improvements.

Care plans were in place detailing how people wished to be supported however, people’s care was not regularly reviewed.

People who used the service were not always aware of how to raise a concern or to make a complaint. However, the complaints procedure was available.

There were audits process and quality assurance processes however, the quality assurance processes at the service had not been effectively implemented to monitor the quality of the care delivered. Governance systems at the service were not robust.

The provider had not informed the Care Quality Commission of significant changes at the service.