Background to this inspection
Updated
2 December 2020
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by an inspector and two Experts 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.
The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. However, the current manager had submitted their application to be the registered manager at this service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 3 November 2020 and ended on 6 November 2020. We visited the office location on 6 November 2020.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We spoke with 31 people who used the service and 11 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight members of staff including the managing director, manager and care workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
Updated
2 December 2020
About the service
Homecarers Liverpool Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to 521 people at the time of the inspection. The service supports people living in Liverpool, Knowsley and Wirral.
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 and what we found
People's experience of using the service was mostly positive. People were happy with the staff who visited them and felt safe with the support they provided. People received visits from regular staff most of the time. However, some people were unhappy at not being able to get through to the office to amend their service or report a late or missed call. We found that the number of office staff available to answer telephone calls had reduced during the current times. To manage a sudden outbreak of COVID-19; half of the office staff were working at home so that continuity of the service would be maintained. This meant that people were left waiting for their call, uncertain if the carer was due to arrive.
People spoke positively about the staff. Their comments included, “I like the help I get. I feel safe when they are helping me (having a shower)”, “The service is brilliant. We have no problems.”, “I’m happy with the support. I feel safe because the carers wear masks and gloves”, “I feel safe around my carer, but it does worry me that it takes so long for the office to answer calls” and “I’m very happy. The staff are very clean, polite and respectful”.
Staff had received additional training for infection control because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They had a regular supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, aprons and people told us staff always wore this.
People using the service and staff were involved in the development of their care through regular reviews meetings and surveys. The latest survey showed that people were satisfied with their care.
Staff had been recruited safely. There were sufficient numbers of staff employed to support people. Staff received regular training and support. Staff told us they enjoyed working for the service.
The management team completed regular quality audits and where actions were identified these were addressed to bring about improvements. The service worked effectively with other professionals.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 21/11/2017)
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
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.