Background to this inspection
Updated
10 April 2021
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 Care Act 2014.
The inspection
This was a targeted inspection to look at specific concerns we had about people’s safety and rights, staffing levels and staff knowledge and how the service was managed.
Inspection team
The inspection at the specialist housing location was undertaken by one inspector and an assistant inspector on 5 August 2020. After this site visit, a second inspector spoke with people’s relatives and additional staff members.
The second inspector also undertook an inspection at the location’s registered office on 22 September 2020.
Service and service type
This service is registered as a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes and specialist housing.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The registered manager had advised us of their intention to de-register as registered manager for this location. A new manager had been appointed and had applied to become registered manager.
Notice of inspection
This inspection on 05 August 2020 unannounced. The inspection on 22 September 2020 was announced.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We spoke with one person and two relatives. We also spoke seven staff members including the newly appointed manager. In addition, we spoke with three provider representatives.
We reviewed a range of documents including four people’s care records, staff recruitment and management records and a range of policies and procedures to support people’s care. We also saw how the provider marketed the service, monitored the care provided and how they had investigated any concerns for people’s safety.
We sought the views of four adult social care professionals who have worked with the service to find out what they thought about the safety and quality of the care provided and to confirm the services they had commissioned.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found in respect of people’s safety and how the service was managed and registered.
Updated
10 April 2021
About the service
West Midlands Community Services is registered to provide personal care to younger people who may live with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder, physical disability, sensory or mental health needs, in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, the service provided care to four people living at a specialist housing location.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People’s safety needs had been assessed and staff knew what action to take if they had any concerns for people’s well-being. There were enough staff to care for people and staff were positive about recent changes which had been introduced to support them to provide good care to people. These changes had promoted people’s safety and well-being.
There had been a recent change in management and provider representatives supporting the service. People’s relatives and other health and social care professionals told us communication with the new manager and staff team was improving. Staff told us they now felt supported to provide good care through training, increased staffing and discussions with the manager.
People were supported in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. However, we found the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) was not consistently applied, because where people needed support to make some decisions these had not been recorded by staff.
The service didn’t always apply the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.
The outcomes for people did not fully reflect the principles and values of Registering the Right Support as decisions had not consistently been taken to promote people's choice and control. There was a risk people would not always receive support based on their choices and preferences, as staff had not consistently been provided with guidance they needed to do this. The manager confirmed they had started to arrange reviews with people’s relatives and other health and social care professionals to address this.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
This service was registered with us on 16/03/2020 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
We undertook this targeted inspection to check on specific concerns we had about people’s safety and how the service was registered.
CQC have introduced targeted inspections to follow up on Warning Notices or to check specific concerns. They do not look at an entire key question, only the part of the key question we are specifically concerned about. Targeted inspections do not provide or change the rating from the previous inspection, if a rating was provided. This is because they do not assess all areas of a key question.
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 we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.