LPTC Solutions Hull

Updated 25 March 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 completed by an 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, flats and specialist housing. This service also provides care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. In supported living, people’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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 CQC 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

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

Inspection activity started on 12 January 2023 and ended on 7 February 2023. We visited the location’s office on 31 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it first registered. We used information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We sought feedback from Healthwatch, and the local authority who work with the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 2 people who used the service and received feedback from 3 health and social care professionals who worked with the service. We spoke with 6 members of staff including the provider's registered manager who was also 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. This included 3 people's care and medicine administration records. We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment, training and supervision. A variety of other records relating to the management of the service, including audits and policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 25 March 2023

About the service

LPTC Solutions Hull is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own homes or ‘supported living’ settings. In supported living settings, people’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) does not regulate the premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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. At the time of our inspection, there were 4 people receiving support with personal care.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support:

People gave positive feedback about the care they received. However, their care plans and risk assessments were not always detailed and person-centred, so it what not always clear what support people needed and how their needs should be met in a safe way. This put people at increased risk of harm and meant we could not always be certain their needs would be met. We made a recommendation about good practice when recording the support with people’s medicines.

Despite these concerns people felt safe with the care and support staff provided and gave positive feedback about the support they received.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Right Care:

People received kind and caring support from respectful staff. Recruitment checks were completed to help make sure suitable staff were employed and enough staff were employed to safely meet people’s needs.

Staff completed a wide range of training and gave positive feedback about the support and encouragement provided to enable them to provide effective care.

Right Culture:

Clear and complete records were not always available. Information about risks and how risks were managed was not always clear. Audits did not evidence a robust approach to monitoring the quality and safety of the service.

Staff felt encouraged and supported to understand and meet people’s individual needs and gave consistently positive feedback about the approachable and supportive management.

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 6 September 2021 and this was the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service and based on when the service was registered.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We identified a breach in relation to the records and governance arrangements at this inspection. Please see the action we told the provider to take at the end of this report. We also made a recommendation about the management of medicines.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.