Archived: Universal Care Services Corby

Universal Care Services Corby is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their own homes. There were 88 people using this service at the time of our inspection.

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

Improvements had been made to people receiving care at planned times, however, some risks remained. Some people had experienced improvements to the timeliness of their care calls; other people still experienced variations. The provider’s call monitoring records showed us that people were not receiving care calls to their commissioned length of time. The provider had recognised these issues and had started taking steps to improve.

People were supported by staff who knew them, had appropriate training and who had been safely recruited. We signposted the registered manager to good practice in relation to the frequency of staff competency checks.

People were protected from the risk of abuse. There were systems and processes in place to safeguard people from potential harm. Staff completed training about safeguarding adults from harm. People and relatives said they felt safe with the staff.

Staff followed all necessary infection prevention measures. Staff wore appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and received training in infection prevention and control.

People told us they had been involved in care planning and care plans reflected people's individual needs and choices. The provider had sufficient systems and oversight to assess, monitor and mitigate the risks relating to the health, safety and welfare of people. The provider was in the process of updating people’s care plans to make them more robust.

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. Staff understood consent and were clear that people had the right to make their own choices.

People were supported to meet their nutritional and hydration needs, medicines were safely managed, and staff contacted healthcare professionals when required.

People were able to feedback their views on the service. People, relatives and staff all knew how to complain and the majority reported their concerns were acted upon.

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 17 November 2020). 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, however this service has now been rated requires improvement for the last three consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to staffing issues. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has remained the same, requires improvement. 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 Universal Care Services Corby on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme, or if we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Universal Care Services Corby is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of inspection there were 135 people receiving personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

There were not enough staff employed to ensure people's care was delivered at the time they needed. People had not always received their care at planned times or length of time for their care. Due to the Covid pandemic staffing levels had been erratic as some staff had had to isolate at short notice. Rotas that had been made in advance had been changed constantly to ensure people received their care.

New staff were being recruited using safe recruitment practices.

People’s risks were assessed, and the care plans described how staff would mitigate these known risks. However, staff need to have time allocated to update themselves with these.

The provider recognised the need to improve the communication with staff, people using the service and their relatives. People and their relatives were asked for their feedback about the service and these were used to make improvements to the service.

Staff had received training in and followed the provider’s infection control procedures.

People were protected from the risks of abuse or poor care as the provider had systems in place to identify, report and learn from safeguarding incidents.

Staff received training in the safe management of medicines and their competencies had been checked. Regular medicines’ audits informed the manager of any issues which were rectified in a timely manner.

The provider and registered manager had implemented systems and audits to enable them to identify where they needed to make improvements.

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 23 July 2019) and there were two breaches 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 we only looked at the breach relating to staffing; enough improvement had not been made and the provider was still in breach of this regulation.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing and management oversight. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well sections of the full report. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Universal Care Services Corby on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service.

We have identified a continued breach in relation to staffing at this inspection. We will request an action plan for 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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Universal Care Services Corby is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to 118 younger adults and older people with dementia, physical disabilities and mental health needs.

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

People did not always receive care at the time they needed it and had experienced missed calls. They did not always feel safe as at times staff they did not know would attend to provide care. People told us staff did not always show their identification. People did not feel confident in the service’s ability to manage their rota effectively.

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. Staff respected people’s preferences and wishes regarding their care delivery However, the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice. Mental capacity assessments and best interest decisions had not been undertaken for people that lacked capacity to make specific decisions about their care and treatment.

Quality assurance systems and surveys had identified areas for improvement. The service had an action plan in place to address concerns such as late visits and dissatisfaction with complaints management. Implementation was in the early stages at the time of inspection and needed to be further developed and embedded in practice to improve people’s care experience. The registered manager was aware of their legal requirements. Whilst statutory notifications had been submitted to CQC, these were not completed in a timely manner.

People were supported by staff that had been safely recruited. Staff had a good knowledge of risks associated with providing people’s care, including infection control. Staff had received adequate training to meet people’s individual care needs, their competency was assessed before they gave people their medicines. Staff knew how to identify, and report abuse to keep people safe. Accidents and incidents were reported and reviewed. Measures were put in place to reduce risks to people.

People told us regular staff were kind, caring and compassionate. They took the time to find out people’s hobbies and interests. Staff enjoyed their work and treated people as if they were a family member. People’s diversity was respected and embraced. Staff were respectful and open to people of all faiths and beliefs, and people’s privacy and dignity was respected. People’s care plans were being developed to include more information about what was important to them to assist staff to provide more personalised care.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 04 July 2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to Regulation 18 (Staffing) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 and Regulation 11 (Need for consent) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

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 for 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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.