7 May 2021
During an inspection looking at part of the service
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
People and their relatives said care workers provided safe care. Two people said, “I wanted professional people with high standards and I’ve been impressed with the carers” and “I feel very safe.” However, what people told us and what we found did not always match. Risk assessments and management plans did not always contain enough detail to identify and mitigate risks.
People did not always receive their medicines as planned and staff did not always complete medicine administration records accurately. Medicines audits took place but did not find the concerns we identified with the management of medicines.
Regular monitoring checks of the service took place. However, they failed to identify issues in risk assessments and medicines management found.
The provider sought feedback from people using the service and their relatives via telephone calls and home visits. People gave positive feedback about the care and management of the service.
Staff completed safeguarding training which helped them to identify abuse and understand their responsibilities to protect people at risk from harm. Staff followed the provider’s safeguarding procedures and knew how to report an allegation of abuse to the registered manager or local authority for investigation.
Staff had checks completed before their employment was confirmed. The rota showed enough staff were deployed to meet people’s needs. People said regular care workers visited them and arrived on time.
There were suitable infection control and prevention methods in place. This was in line with government guidelines around the COVID-19 pandemic. This helped staff to reduce the risks of infection for people they supported.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
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 22 June 2020 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection. We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. The overall rating for the service is requires improvement. This is based on the findings of this inspection.
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 monitor the service.
We have identified breaches of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment, medicines management and recruitment. We also found the quality of care records and the monitoring of the service were not always of a good standard.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
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.