Premier Care - Bradford Branch

Updated 7 December 2022

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

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors 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. This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

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

We gave a short period notice of the inspection. This was to ensure the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before 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 the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

One inspector visited the office for two days. We looked at 6 people’s care records including medication administration records. We spoke with the registered manager, quality manager and senior office coordinators. A second inspector also spoke with 6 care staff. An Expert by Experience spoke with 7 people and 7 relatives on the telephone about their experiences of the care provided . We also looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of records relating to the management of the service including policies and audits.

Updated 7 December 2022

About the service

Premier Care Bradford is a domiciliary care agency providing support and personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 67 people. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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

Medicines were not always managed safely. Whilst some systems had improved, we found gaps and shortfalls in people’s medicine records. This meant we were not assured people were receiving their medication as prescribed.

A range of audits and checks were undertaken to assess, monitor and improve the service. They had not been effective in identifying shortfalls in the management of medicines. Other quality checks were effective in identifying issues and driving improvements. The registered manager responded promptly to our feedback about concerns and took action to address the shortfalls. The registered manager was approachable and supportive and provided leadership to the team. Staff received regular supervision and support.

Recruitment was managed safely and there were enough staff to support people.

People and relatives gave positive feedback about staff and the support they received. They said they felt safe and staff were kind and respectful. We received mixed feedback about the consistency and timing of calls. Risks to people’s health and safety were assessed and regularly reviewed. Staff knew people well and supported them based on their needs, choices and preferences.

People and staff’ feedback was sought, listened to, and used to improve the service.

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.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

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 13 November 2019). At this inspection we found the provider remained in breach of regulations. The service has been rated requires improvement for the last three consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 9 and 14 October 2022. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. 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 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 remains requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Premier Care Bradford 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 and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to the safe management of medication and good governance at this inspection.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

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