Adopt Healthcare Ltd

Updated 22 August 2023

The inspection

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service and we sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider did not complete the required Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about the service, what it does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 2 relatives of the people who use the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 4 staff members, including the registered manager, senior care worker, care worker and the I.T manager. We reviewed all documentation the provider had relating to the 3 people who were in receipt of personal cares.

We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision, and we also requested a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures and training documents.

During and after the onsite inspection we requested multiple documents such as audits and governance records, however we were not provided with these.

Updated 22 August 2023

About the service

Adopt Healthcare is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care and support for people in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks relating to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 3 people with personal cares.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were not kept safe from the risk of harm. People did not have appropriate risk assessments in place and environmental safety assessments were not completed. Medicines were not managed safely. The recruitment process was not safe. There was no evidence of lessons learnt despite accidents occurring.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice.

Staff knew people well but could not support them based on their needs as no assessments had been completed by the provider and no care plans were available for staff. There was no evidence of people’s consent or involvement in care decisions. There was no evidence of involvement from other professionals vital to people’s care and treatment.

The provider did not have systems in place to monitor or audit the quality of the care provided therefore could not drive improvements. Oversight and management of the service was not safe or effective.

Staff received training online and induction prior to commencing employment. However training was not provided on equality and diversity or promoting privacy and dignity.

Staff followed good infection control practices including wearing personal protective equipment when supporting people.

People and relatives told us they were happy with the care staff provided and were supported by consistent care staff. Relatives told us staff were caring and treat people with kindness. Staff told us the registered manager was approachable and supportive.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 14 August 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. We found evidence the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective, responsive and well-led sections of this report.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, medicine management, consent, safe recruitment processes and good governance at this inspection.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Special Measures

The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘special measures’. This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration, we will re-inspect within 6 months to check for significant improvements.

If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe and there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the registration.

For adult social care services, the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.