Archived: My Homecare Bexley & Greenwich Also known as My Homecare

My Homecare Bexley & Greenwich is a domiciliary care agency looking after people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service supported nine people with their personal care.

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

We found risks were not always identified, and risk management plans were not always in to guide staff on how risks should be minimised. Call times did not always allow for travel time between visits.

We had mixed feedback from relatives about the timing of people’s care and support and some staff did not always attend calls at the scheduled times and some staff did not stay for the whole duration of the scheduled call.

Staff records showed that they were supported through induction and training. However, staff and relatives told us that they had not always received adequate training

Complaints were not always logged and managed appropriately. Staff team meetings were not held on a regular basis through the pandemic.

There has not been a registered manager in place since January 2021 and there was not a clear management structure in place. The provider's quality monitoring systems were not effective. Internal audits did not identify the issues we found at this inspection or if they did remedial action was not taken to drive improvements.

People said they felt safe and that their needs were met. There were appropriate safeguarding systems in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. People were protected against the risk of infection and people told us that staff always wore personal protective equipment (PPE).

Medicines were safely managed. Sufficient numbers of suitably skilled staff were deployed to meet people's needs. There were no accidents and incidents logged since our last inspection in December 2020. Assessments were carried out to ensure people's needs could be met. Assessments were carried out prior to people joining the service to ensure their needs could be met.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff told us they always asked people for consent before providing care and support.

People were supported to eat a healthy and well-balanced diet if required. People had access to healthcare services when required to maintain good health and their independence was promoted. Staff were supported through regular supervisions. The service was not currently supporting people who were considered end of life, but if they did then relevant information would be recorded in their care plans.

People and their relatives (where appropriate) had been consulted about their care and support needs. The provider worked in partnership with key organisations to ensure people's individual needs were planned.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Good (published 2 February 2021).

Why we inspected

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

Follow up:

We have not inspected caring key question. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspection for this key question were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. Therefore, the overall rating for the service has now deteriorated to requires improvement.

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

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for My Homecare Bexley & Greenwich on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

My Homecare Bexley & Greenwich is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. At the time of the inspection, 31 people were receiving personal care.

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

People and their relatives told us people were safe and that staff treated people well. The registered manager completed risk assessments for each person using the service. Staff administered people’s medicines safely and protected people from the risk of infection.

People were supported by effectively deployed staff and the registered manager monitored visits. The provider carried out comprehensive background checks of staff before they started work. The provider had a system in place to manage accidents and incidents.

Staff received training and supervision, to ensure they could meet people’s needs. Staff told us they felt supported.

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 registered manager assessed people’s needs to ensure these could be met by staff. The provider worked with other external professionals to ensure people were supported to maintain good health. People and their relatives were involved in making decisions about their care and support.

Systems and processes to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service were in place. There was a clear management structure in place and staff were aware of the roles of the management team.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 3 October 2019) and there were multiple 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 found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

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

We have not inspected caring and responsive key questions. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. Therefore, the overall rating for the service has now improved to good.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for My Homecare Bexley & Greenwich on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

My Homecare Bexley & Greenwich is a domiciliary care agency looking after people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service supported five people with their personal care. 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

Medicines were not safely managed. Medicine Administration Records (MAR) were not always completed in full. Staff had not completed competency assessments and medicine audits which identified shortfalls were not rectified. Risks were not always identified and risk management plans were not always in place to guide staff on how risks should be minimised. Staff were not supported through regular supervisions. The service was not currently supporting people who were considered end of life. The provider's quality monitoring systems were not effective. Internal audits did not identify the issues we found at this inspection or if they did remedial action was not taken to drive improvements.

People said they felt safe and that their needs were met. There were appropriate safeguarding systems in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. People were protected against the risk of infection. Accidents and incidents were appropriately managed and learning from this was disseminated to staff. Sufficient numbers of suitably skilled staff were deployed to meet people's needs.

Staff were supported through induction and training. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to support people appropriately. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People were supported to eat a healthy and well-balanced diet if required. People had access to healthcare services when required to maintain good health and their independence was promoted.

People and their relatives (where appropriate) had been consulted but their care and support needs. There was an effective complaints system to manage people concerns in a timely manner. The provider worked in partnership with key organisations to ensure people's individual needs were planned.

Rating at last inspection and update

This service was registered with us on 3 September 2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was part of our routine scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of the care people received.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

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