Background to this inspection
Updated
22 February 2023
The inspection
We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.
Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.
Inspection team
This inspection was undertaken by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
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
In line with our new approach we gave a short period of notice of this inspection and explained what was involved under the new methodology.
Inspection activity started on 26 January and ended on 30 January 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since it registered with us. 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as video calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.
We spoke with the registered manager, a care worker and received feedback from the relative of the person receiving care. We reviewed records relating to the person’s care, staffing and the management of the service.
Updated
22 February 2023
About the service
We Care4Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care support to people in their own homes. They can care for both adults and children who require support, including people who have a learning disability and/or autism. At the time of our inspection there was 1 person receiving support who had physical disabilities. 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
At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.
Right Support:
We could not be assured that people received their medicines safely. Medicines were given covertly (without the person knowing) but we were not assured that this had been approved as being safe by a GP or Pharmacist.
People were supported to have choice over aspects 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:
Staff had not received training in key areas as required mandatory for care services including training on learning disabilities and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
People and those important to them were involved in planning their care and we heard that care was delivered in line with people’s needs. However, there were not detailed, specific care and support plans in place. There was a risk that the person may not receive high quality safe care, as the support plans did not adequately outline how support was to be provided.
People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs.
Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.
Right Culture:
The management team did not have sufficient systems in place to ensure people received high quality person-centred care. There was not a regular programme of audit or review. There was not a programme in place to ensure people, and their relatives’, views were regularly obtained and used to inform service delivery. There were not sufficient numbers of staff at the service, which meant when the person’s main care worker was on leave or off sick, that family members had to provide care. Safe staff recruitment practices were not followed.
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 7 September 2022 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Enforcement
We have identified breaches in relation to staffing numbers, recruitment and training, and governance of the service at this inspection.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
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.