We carried out a review of the data available to us about ICare Solutions Stockport Limited on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about ICare Solutions Stockport Limited, you can give feedback on this service.
About the service
ICare Solutions Stockport Limited is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 70 people receiving 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 and what we found
We found improvements to the way staff recruitment, safeguarding and service oversight were managed at the service. Staff had undergone safe recruitment checks prior to working at the service. There was a safeguarding policy and procedure in place and staff knew how to identify and report any concerns. We were assured the service employed safe and effective infection prevention and control practices. A medicines policy was in place. Staff had received medicines training and regular competency checks.
Staff underwent an induction and received a programme of training, supervision and competency checks. People were supported to access healthcare and the service facilitated appropriate and timely referrals to other agencies and professionals.
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.
People received care and support from mostly kind and caring staff. Staff we spoke with talked about the people they supported in a kind and compassionate manner. People were treated with dignity and respect. We have made one recommendation about staff language barriers and a one recommendation about people’s gender preferences.
Care plans were detailed and person-centred and written with involvement of people and those important to them. Any changes were reviewed and updated to ensure plans reflected current need. Staff told us they knew people well and were aware of people’s needs and their individual preferences for care. We fed back to the registered manager some concerns raised by staff about their ability to access care information on their mobile phones.
Management oversight of the service had improved since the last inspection. The registered manager had addressed the issues from the last inspection. Management systems, such as audits and checks, were regularly used to monitor and improve the service.
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 28 June 2021). 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
The inspection was prompted in part by notification of an incident following which a person using the service died. This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of safe care delivery. This inspection examined those risks.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.
The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for ICare Solutions Stockport on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Recommendations
We have made one recommendation about staff language barriers and a one recommendation about people’s gender preferences.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
ICare Solutions Stockport Limited is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own home in the Stockport and Tameside areas of Greater Manchester. At the time of inspection the service was supporting 155 people. 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
Appropriate checks on new staff were not always undertaken before they started work and staff did not feel their induction gave them the skills they needed and felt unsupported when they started work. Staff understood the importance of raising concerns but we found policies relating to how these concerns were dealt with were not always followed. People told us staff used appropriate personal protective equipment to try and protect them from infection. People told us they felt safe.
Staff did not feel well trained and felt they had to learn on the job. People told us new care workers seemed to not always be sure what to do. People felt involved in deciding how they were supported and their support plans included advice from other health professionals. People were supported to eat and drink well.
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.
People using the service told us their regular care workers were kind, built good relationships with them and understood how they wanted to be supported. People’s choices and diversity was respected. People told us how care workers protected their dignity and encouraged them to be independent.
People felt able to complain and that complaints were taken seriously and their concerns addressed. If people had communication needs, information could be tailored so they received the information in a way they understood. Processes were in place to enable people to be supported at the end of their lives if they chose to remain at home.
Some quality and audit processes were not being followed meaning the provider did not always have good oversight of the quality of the service being provided to people.
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 16 June 2019 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about care worker recruitment and training. 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, effective and well-led sections of this full report and the Enforcement section below.
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 discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.
We have identified breaches in relation to how the service dealt with safeguarding alerts, recruitment processes and the governance in the service. 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.