Background to this inspection
Updated
21 January 2023
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
The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing.
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 a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
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 or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 24 November 2022 and ended on 7 December 2022. We visited the location’s office on 24 November 2022.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since registration. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all this information to plan our 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.
During the inspection
We were unable to speak to the person receiving support. However, we spoke to their relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 5 members of staff including the registered manager, field manager, recruitment manager and care workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included the person’s care records and medication records. We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
Updated
21 January 2023
About the service
BlueCross Life Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to younger and older adults with various needs including, physical disabilities, mental health conditions, dementia and people living with a learning disability or autism. At the time of this inspection 1 person was using the service. 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
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
The service was not meeting all of the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. Although elements of care plans were person-centred there was room for improvement and care records were not always dignified. Care plans did not consider the person’s end of life wishes. Staff had received general learning disability training. However, the service was supporting a person with a learning disability and staff had not received in-depth training in relation to their needs.
Medicines were not managed safely. Recruitment checks were not always robust.
Governance and audit systems were not robust. Staff completed daily notes when they attended to daily visits. However, the provider had no system in place for staff to record the times in and out of visits. The person had reviews of their care package, however, details of the reviews and the discussions held were not recorded.
The person was protected from the risks of abuse and staff were trusted to keep them safe.
The person’s needs were assessed prior to starting with the service and care plans were developed according to their needs. The person’s communication needs were met.
Staff promoted the person’s independence and supported them to make their own day to day decisions. Staff knew the person well and promoted their right to privacy and upheld their human rights.
The person was 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; however, the policies and systems in the service did not always support this practice. Staff had received an induction when they first started working at the service and although some training relevant to their roles had been provided, staff did not receive specific training in MCA.
Staff felt supported by the management team.
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 28 January 2019 and this was the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Enforcement
We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance at this inspection.
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 from 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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.