Pioneering Care Bicester Limited

Pioneering Care is a domiciliary care agency providing care to people in their own homes in the Oxfordshire area. At the time of our inspection 38 people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care from the service. Not everyone using the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care, which 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 were kept safe from abuse and harm, and staff knew how to report any suspicions concerning abuse. The service had systems to report and investigate concerns. Risk assessments identified how potential risks should be managed to reduce the likelihood of people experiencing harm. Staff understood the risks to people and delivered safe care in accordance with people's support plans. There were enough staff to keep people safe and meet their needs. Robust recruitment processes aimed to ensure only suitable staff were selected to work with people.

People told us staff were mostly punctual, and no one told us they had experienced a missed visit. People were informed when their care visits would be taking place. Support visits were monitored through an electronic monitoring system that alerted management if staff were running late.

People, and staff spoke positively of the management; they found them approachable and supportive. Staff were given appropriate responsibility which was continuously monitored and checked by the registered manager. There were effective systems to monitor, maintain and improve the quality of the service.

The registered manager welcomed the inspection and engaged fully in the inspection process. They were open and honest and encouraged staff to do the same.

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 Good (published 27 March 2020).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about poor care, staff working without using Personal protective equipment (PPE) correctly, people being verbally abused, poor management and a closed culture within the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe and Well-Led only.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the Safe and Well-Led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Pioneering Care Bicester Limited 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.

S and T Care Limited, referred to as S and T Care in this report, are a new domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. The service operates in Bicester and surrounding areas. On the day of the inspection 8 people were supported by the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

The service provided safe support to people. People told us they felt safe with staff. People received their medicines as needed. Risks to people's well-being as well as their environments were assessed and recorded. People were supported to meet their nutritional needs and access health services.

The service was caring, and people praised the caring nature of the staff. People were involved in the support they received, and their dignity and confidentiality were respected. People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff respected their rights to make own decisions.

People’s needs were assessed prior to the commencement of the service. People’s care plans were detailed and current. People knew how to raise concerns but told us they never needed to. Staff were suitably skilled to carry out their roles effectively.

The service was well-led by the registered manager who was supported by a team of staff. People praised how the service was run. The provider monitored the quality of the service and was in a process of embedding improved systems to do so. Feedback from staff and people was sought and acted on.

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

Rating at last inspection:

The service was registered with us on 28 March 2019 and this was their first inspection.

Follow up:

We will monitor all intelligence received about the service to inform the assessment of the risk profile of the service and to ensure the next planned inspection is scheduled accordingly.

More information is in detailed findings below.