About the service VJ Carers Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. The service supports older people, people living with dementia and people with a physical disability. At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal care to 53 people.
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
Risks to people were assessed and documented in their care plans. However, risk assessments did not always contain specific, clear guidance for staff about how to protect people from identified risks.
The registered manager used systems to manage medicines. However, people’s medicines administration records (MARs) were not always fully completed. The registered manager's audits had not identified this.
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.
The registered manager had systems and processes in place to monitor quality and safety in the service however, these systems were not always effective.
Staff understood their responsibilities to protect people from harm and knew how to raise safeguarding concerns. The registered manager had completed the necessary safe recruitment checks to ensure suitable staff were employed.
There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and provide safe care. People told us they felt safe with staff and that they were well trained. People were protected from the risk of getting infections by staff who had completed training in infection prevention and control.
Staff worked with health and social care professionals to help meet people's needs. Staff contacted relevant healthcare professionals, with people's consent, when healthcare needs were identified.
People were cared for by staff who felt well supported by their manager and colleagues. People told us there was an approachable staff team who invited and encouraged feedback on possible improvements to the service. People and their relatives felt the registered manager and staff responded quickly to their needs and communicated effectively.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection (and update)
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 5 December 2019) and there were multiple breaches of regulations. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection some improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of two of the regulations. However, the provider was still in breach of two regulations. The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last two consecutive inspections.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced, comprehensive inspection of this service on 5 December 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when, to comply with the regulations for safe care and treatment, good governance, notifications of other iIncidents and fit and proper persons employed.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements . This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions of safe, effective and well-led, which cover those requirements.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has remained the same. This is based on the findings at this inspection. We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the safe, effective and well-led sections of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for VJ Carers Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement
We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service.
We have identified continued breaches in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.