3 August 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
VIP Homecare is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 18 people were receiving personal care. 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 our last inspection we found risk assessments were not in place for people’s identified risks and auditing systems did not ensure improvements were identified and actioned. At this inspection we found improvements had been made, however, we found risk assessments were still not in place for all identified risks. The provider had started to update their auditing systems; however, they were still not robust enough to ensure shortfalls were identified to make improvements.
At our last inspection we found the provider had failed to ensure people were protected from the risk of abuse. The provider had made improvements to their systems in place and people were now protected from the risk of abuse.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. People were supported by enough staff who were safely recruited to work in the service. People’s medicines were safely managed. The provider had effective systems in place to help protect people from the risk of infection. Staff informed us of the process they would follow if any incidents occurred.
The provider promoted a positive culture and staff showed an approach which helped achieve good outcomes for people. The registered manager understood their responsibility under the duty of candour and promoted an open and honest approach when something went wrong. People, their relatives and staff were involved in the running of the service. Staff confirmed they worked together as a team and with other professionals to support people.
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 27 September 2022) and there were breaches of regulation. At this inspection we found the warning notice had only been partially met and there were still breaches of regulation.
Why we inspected
This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection. We undertook this focused inspection to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions safe and well-led which contain those requirements.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for VIP Homecare on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement
We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Follow up
Following the inspection we had a meeting with the provider to discuss the concerns and action they will take. 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.