First Choice Home Care (Norwich)

Updated 17 March 2025

Date of Assessment 25 March 2025 to 25 April 2025. We undertook this assessment in response to information of concern we held about the service. First Choice Home Care Norwich is a care at home service providing support to older people, people with a learning disability and people living with mental health conditions. We found 2 breaches of regulation in relation to safe care and governance.

The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulation in relation to safe staffing. Improvements were found at this assessment and the provider was no longer in breach of this regulation.

People did not always receive care in a safe way, and their care needs had not been fully assessed. Risks relating to peoples care needs had not always been identified, and staff were

not supplied with sufficient guidance to keep people safe. We found systems for people to raise concerns were not always effective, and complaints were not always managed in a timely or caring way. Some people felt their concerns were dismissed.

The provider did not always support staff wellbeing, and staff did not feel they were treated with respect. Information was not always provided to people in a way which they could access easily. People were not involved in planning their care, and the outcomes people experienced were not always monitored to promote continuous improvement.

Oversight from leaders was poor and had not identified the concerns we found during this assessment. People and staff did not feel confident in the management team to lead the service safely or with transparency. We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. We found the provider had failed to fully meet the principles of it. There was a lack of management and provider oversight to review shortfalls of care to make improvements. The provider did not always focus on people’s quality of life. The provider and staff did not always recognise how to promote people’s rights, choices and plan to ensure their independence.

Updated 17 March 2025

We received mixed feedback from people and their relatives about the support they received from the service. Generally, people found the care staff to be kind and caring. However, people also told us they felt staff were not always sufficiently trained or knowledgeable to meet their care needs. People told us the times of their visits were inconsistent, with peoples visits often delayed without being them told. This impacted on people’s daily lives and made it difficult for them to make plans. People and their relatives found communication from the management team to be poor, with people waiting extended periods of time when they tried to contact them with feedback or complaints. People did not have up to date records in place which reflected their needs accurately. This placed people at risk of receiving a poor standard of care. This included people living with complex physical and mental health conditions and learning disabilities.