Luv To Care Home Care Ltd

Updated 18 January 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

This inspection was completed by 2 inspectors 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 a short period notice of the inspection so people using the service could provide consent to take part in the inspection by giving us feedback by telephone.

Inspection activity started on 8 November 2022 and ended on 22 November 2022. We visited the location's office on 9 November 2022.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also sought feedback from the local authority. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 9 people and relatives by phone to gain feedback on their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager, 5 care staff and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We reviewed a range of records relating to people’s care including 6 care plans and risk assessments, a range of medicines administration records, quality assurance records relating to the running of the service and 4 staff recruitment files.

Updated 18 January 2023

About the service

Luv To Care Home Care Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own home. The service provides support to older people with a variety of needs, including people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 63 people using the service. The service supported people living in the Southampton area.

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

There were areas of the provider’s governance systems that needed to be improved. This included ensuring audits completed for all aspects of service delivery ensured the provider was proactive in identifying and improving the service in line with best practice guidance. The provider valued the contributions of their staff and took opportunities to share this with staff. Overall people and their relatives told us they were happy with the care they received.

The provider ensured there were appropriate levels of staff to meet people’s needs, however, we received feedback from people and their relatives that they were not always informed who would be attending care calls and staff we spoke with felt travel times could be improved.The provider ensured there were appropriate levels of staff to meet people’s needs, however, we received feedback from people and their relatives that they were not always informed who would be attending care calls and staff we spoke with felt travel times could be improved. We identified areas for improvement around the management of medicines to ensure people received their medicines as prescribed. We identified the providers COVID-19 policies and procedures did not always reflect current best practice guidance, we raised this with the registered manager who took action to address this. There were clear safeguarding systems in place to ensure people were protected from the risk of abuse. There were clear safeguarding systems in place to ensure people were protected from the risk of abuse.

People were supported to manage their dietary needs and people’s nutritional intake was monitored where this was appropriate. However, where a person had recently been prescribed a modified diet, we identified improvements were required to ensure staff had access to appropriate information and training to meet people’s needs. We found examples where the provider’s tools for identifying risk and monitoring people’s skin integrity or weight loss could be improved. Staff told us they felt supported in their role by the registered manager and senior team.

We received positive feedback from people and their relatives that staff treated people with kindness and compassion. People’s care was delivered with dignity and respect and the registered manager regularly sought feedback from people to ensure they were happy with the service they received.

People’s care plans were personalised and included information on their histories, routines and preferences. People were supported by staff who knew them and their needs, and people told us they knew how to raise concerns and were confident action would be taken as appropriate. At this inspection no one was receiving end of life care, however the provider had established networks of local resources available to people and knew how to ensure people were appropriately supported during end of life care.

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 18 November 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.

Recommendations

We have recommended the provider continues to review and embed their processes when decisions are made in people’s best interest to ensure this is in line with the requirements. We also recommended best practice guidance is embedded related to food textures and ensures care plans are updated in a timely way.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.